Rugby: Hawks teen a stand-out

A pair of tries to teenage speedster Brad Jones helped Otamatea Hawks to a winning start in this year's opening round of Southern Districts Premier rugby.

Keen to erase their recent memories as the whipping boys of the competition, Otamatea made the most of their trip to Hikurangi, beating them 32-12 on Saturday.

Jones, head boy at Ruawai College, cut loose as the Hawks new-look backline made the most of the platform set by their hard-working forwards.

Lock Shane Neville was outstanding as was the loose forward trio bolstered this year by Silverdale flanker Travis Larsen.

The forwards neutralised the strong Hikurangi pack with some great tackling and hounded Hikurangi at the breakdown. With John Whitehead at first five and second five Joe Hammond both recent additions to the backline the visiting backs were able to create space out wide giving Jones and his fellow outside backs opportunities.

"They spread it wide and used the width of the paddock and in the end they stretched Hikurangi's defence and that's where they scored most of the tries," Hawks assistant coach Hone Pene said.

Defending champions Mid Western were the only team to cash in on home advantage on Saturday, narrowly edging out Wellsford 13-11 in a replay of last year's final. Western Sharks showed some grit to beat Hora Hora 33-22 in Whangarei, while Kamo also got off to a winning start by upsetting the Mid Northern faithful in a high-scoring encounter at Hukerenui, 42-33.

The merger between Whangarei clubs Old Boys and Marist got off to a promising start when the newly formed senior team beat promoted Waipu 38-5 at Caledonian Park.

Weekend results:

Premiers: Waipu 5 Old Boys Marist 38; Hora Hora 22 Western Sharks 33; Mid Western 13 Wellsford 11; Hikurangi 12 Otamatea 32; Mid Northern 33 Kamo 42.

Reserves: Waipu 7 Old Boys Marist 41; Horahora 0 Western Sharks 61; Hikurangi 11 Otamatea 10; Mid Northern 17 Kamo 53; Mid Western 0 Wellsford 14.