Enthusiasm was running high in Wairarapa-Bush JAB rugby last weekend as teams welcomed the chance to return to the fray after a week off due to the bad weather.
Rams were represented over six grades and returned another set of excellent results. The under-13s met an ever-improving Pioneer combination and, while the Rams won 53-5, Pioneer again showed enough to suggest they will be a force to be reckoned with next season.
Inspirational skipper Jeffery Wilson was a standout up front for the Rams with industrious hooker Adam Gordon not far behind. In the backs, Cyrus Keedwell varied his tactics intelligently at first-five and Mitchell Cockburn impressed on attack and defence.
The Rams under-11s continued on their winning way with a 50-5 beating of Carterton at Carterton. Allasana Malatai was their player of the day with a try and two conversions.
Winger Elias Mason also had a strong game while forwards to shine were Cody McGlashan and Ryan Sullivan.
It was a tough day at the office for the Rams under-10s who were given a lesson in free-flowing rugby by their Greytown-Featherston counterparts who scored several tries from attacks started deep in their own territory.
Catching the eye for the Rams was Motootua Tiololo who made some powerful runs and was also solid on the tackle.
Both the Rams under-9 teams recorded wins, with Tyreece Molese being the star of the White team's 50-5 win over Marist.
The Black team had a ding-donger with Gladstone and scraped home 35-30.
The lead swapped several times in this thriller and a highlight for the Rams was the try by Eva Wootton, which was her first of the season.
It came courtesy of Jackson Gooding who passed her the ball when he was already over the line.
The three under-8s Rams teams were all in fine form, the Whites and Blacks scoring two wins and the Greys one win and one loss.
James Carroll was player of the day for the Greys while Tane Ewington capped off a fine game with a try for the Blacks.
The Whites continued their improvement after a slow start to the season with William Iaefata being so impressive with his block-busting runs and clever passing he was named Rams player of the week.
In the under-6 grade, Rams White and Rams Black had one win and one loss.
Marist's JAB teams were also busy last weekend with the under-10s Green team having a hard-fought encounter with Eketahuna Black, Marist winning 45-40.
The sportsman of the day award went to Hayden Cooper for his ability to burst through tackles.
The Marist White and Green under-6 teams played well with Kaydyn Lee-Webster player of the day for the Greens and Riley Cribb likewise for the Whites.
The under-9s went down to Rams but gave it their all.
Player of the day for them was Jesse Neumann and CJ Lowe won plaudits for his tackling.
Marist under-11s lost to Gladstone and their player of the day was Nico Haeata.
Greytown's under-9s team were up against competition leaders Martinborough last weekend and, while Martinborough took the spoils, Greytown could claim to have "won" the second half. Their two tries were scored by William Cole and Conley Alexander.
In the under-13s grade, Greytown Red played Martinborough in Martinborough. This game too resulted in a big win to Martinborough but Greytown showed pleasing improvement.
There was better fortune for the Greytown Black team which scored some excellent tries in their 62-5 defeat of Carterton in Carterton. Chris Hemi, Sam Smith, Roco Berry, Gracyn Evans, Xavier Bush, Max Telford and Josh Taylor all scored tries for the impressive Greytown unit
Gladstone's under-6 team showed plenty of resolve in their match with Marist. Cameron Wyeth, Harry Oliver, Hamish Bunny, George Johns and Zac Blair were among those always willing to demonstrate their attacking flair.