Kamo lock Ben Monaghan secures a lineout ball in his side's 24-0 win over Hikurangi. Photo / Imran Ali
Wet weather blighted an even contest between neighbours Kamo and Hikurangi in the Tyrepower Northland Premier Club rugby competition on Saturday.
As much as they tried to play running rugby, unforced errors were inevitable in the slippery conditions.
Scrums and re-sets probably trumped the number of players on the field and a wet ball forced both sides to kick more, utilise the flanks more, and feed off the opposition’s mistakes more.
Visitors Kamo eventually overpowered Hikurangi to win the contest 24-0.
The victory propelled Kamo into second position on the points table, behind Western Sharks after they beat Wellsford 31-14 at home on Saturday to take the lead.
At Hikurangi, the visitors adapted better to the conditions and opted to camp outside their half, knowing there was every chance the hosts would fall off tackles and make unforced errors.
Wing Matthew Miller opened the scoring for Kamo after fielding a cross-kick on an unmarked right flank, and touched down for his second in the 25th minute in the same fashion. This time, he stepped inside and beat three defenders to score.
Giving away such soft tries was criminal and Hikurangi only had themselves to blame for allowing Miller time to gather a high kick and then jink his way to the tryline.
In between tries, Hikurangi defended their hearts out and even effected a couple of turnovers near their tryline. They never stopped trying, but they were simply dominated up front and stood little chance of running the ball back into the teeth of the defence.
They knew the chances of winning were slim if they keep defending for most of the game and did not attack for the most part, did not force turnovers, and let Kamo dominate territory and possession.
They made a gallant effort but for all their resilience and sheer bloody-mindedness, they drifted from side to side, unable to prise open the Kamo defence.
Northland Taniwha centre Blake Hohaia returned to club rugby for Kamo and he and first five Nikau Graham found plenty of chinks in the Hikurangi armour but couldn’t always capitalise on them.
Hohaia seemed to have learned how to use mature decision-making to glue together all the component parts of his game. A dry pitch may have provided a true barometer of Hikurangi’s capability because, for all their dominance, Kamo otherwise looked capable but not deadly.
Hikurangi had the upper hand in the scrum. A hefty boilerhouse in hooker Tui Lene, ably supported by props Patrick Lui and Taunga Taunga, sapped the confidence out of the Kamo front row but failed to build scoreboard pressure.
Down by 12 points at halftime, a comeback didn’t appear to be a daunting task for Hikurangi until Kamo scored their third try off a rolling maul not long after the breather and a brain fade minutes later by the hosts near their tryline saw wing Dylan Hook charge down a clearance kick to score.
It capped off the worst possible start for Hikurangi and flew in the face of all that the coaching staff said at halftime.
Skipper Matt Letoga lamented his side’s mistakes, particularly lapses in defence.
“They are a good team. In the second half, the wind really kicked in for us. It was rainy as well, it was pretty hard to get out of our own half. They played really smart, pinning us in the corners when our wingers weren’t back,” Letoga said.
“They played smart footy and we played into their game. We did defend well for the most part but when it came down to the crucial parts, we started slipping off.
“A lack of fitness and fatigue kicked in and we slipped off our one-on-one tackles. A high penalty count has been an ongoing problem for us.
We threw in long passes in the wet when short passes would have worked,” he said.
Despite the loss, Letoga said his young side was gelling well as a team and were unlucky to lose games by a try or a point prior to last weekend.
“We’ve got a young squad, we’re building the culture, trying to bring back the old school Hika. We’re building well this year and next year hopefully we keep going up.”
Kamo skipper Mason Hohaia was pleased with his team’s defence that prevented Hikurangi from scoring any points.
He usually plays hooker but had to cover the tighthead side on Saturday after their No 3 got injured the previous weekend.
In the other Premier rugby results from last weekend, Old Boys Marist edged Kerikeri 18-15, Hora Hora went down at home to Mid Northern 10-16, and Ngāti Hine Moerewa thrashed Wellsford 44-22.
In Division 1, Ōtamatea beat Kamo 14-8, Hora Hora won over Mid Northern 19-10, the Western Sharks trumped Wellsford 26-10, Waipū proved too strong for Ngāti Hine Moerewa, winning 43-17, and Kerikeri pipped OBM 23-19 in Whangārei.