Late heroics by Christ's deny Rathkeale victory

Rugby

Rathkeale College came close to beating Christ's College in their interschool first XV rugby match at Rathkeale after a late converted try gave Christ's a rather fortuitous 23-17 win.

Down 17-16 with only minutes left, Christ's were camped in their 22 and a penalty to Rathkeale meant they had the chance to run down the clock and win the game.

Goal kicking had not been kind to Rathkeale through the match and with their lineout also having problems it seemed logical for Rathkeale to have a scrum, a department in which they had achieved a measure of superiority.

Surprisingly, however, Rathkeale chose a lineout and Christ's grabbed the opportunity by winning the ball and launching an attack which moved play 30m upfield. A few moments later, the visitors again had possession and first-five Damian McKenzie broke clear, making another 50m before being halted, the ball going out of play after touching a Rathkeale defender.

From the following lineout Christ's drove forward, allowing McKenzie to weave his magic again. A step and a dart past two Rathkeale defenders saw the crucial try scored and McKenzie added the conversion.

It was, however, a solid performance from Rathkeale who dropped behind 13-5 after 20 minutes but then took the game to Christ's through the assertiveness of their pack, spearheaded by 120kg prop Sam Tufugapiopa and fearless openside flanker Matt Perry. First-five Toby Tuoro was always prepared to take the ball to the line strongly and centre Ueta Tufugapiopa consistently posed problems for Christ's defence.

Tuoro produced a 30m cross kick to winger Elliot Mason to gave Rathkeale a shock lead in the second half and through some determined tackling and clever kicking from halfback Thor Crombie, they looked set to win, until McKenzie's late heroics.

Result: Christ's College 23 (Damian McKenzie 2, Tom MacFarlane tries; McKenzie two penalties, one conversion); Rathkeale College 17 (George Deans, Matt Perry, Elliot Mason tries; Josh Blatchford one conversion).