Te Rarawa (Northland) won the title at the 2015 Maori Touch Nationals in Rotorua.
Te Rarawa (Northland) won the title at the 2015 Maori Touch Nationals in Rotorua.
Te Rarawa (Northland) have bettered their 2014 runner-up finish to win the men's open title at the 2015 Maori Touch Nationals in Rotorua.
Te Rarawa came up against Wairere (Hamilton) in the final where they put on a good performance to win the men's title 6-3, while Tainui (Waikato) wonthe women's open title 5-1 against Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland).
The defending champions, the Te Arawa men's touch team, were pipped at the post after being knocked out in the semifinals by Wairere (Hamilton) 7-4.
Dipping out in a controversial final, the Terenga Paraoa (Whangarei) under-21 women's team were beaten by the Te Arawa under-21 women's team.
The game ended 4-all but there was heated debate over the final scoreline, as Te Arawa believed they won 5-3.
The referees decided to take it to extra-time and Te Arawa scored during a drop-off to win the final.
Te Arawa under-21 coach Ben Teinakore-Curtis said he was rapt with how his girls played.
"Coming into the tournament we only met up on Friday and went through a couple of hours of training," he said. "So the girls did really well. We were only playing with 11 players during the tournament and even had one injury, but she played through the finals."
