The Marist under-6s were a proud bunch when JAB rugby continued in Wairarapa-Bush last Saturday.
They were all kitted out in new jerseys, thanks to organiser Stephen Griffin and sponsors Michelle Moser and Todd Johnson, and they obviously relished the change, giving their army of supporters plenty to cheerabout in a couple of entertaining games.
Taking the limelight for Marist on the field of play, however, were the under-10s Green squad who defeated a plucky Rams 65-30.
An evenly contested first half saw Marist run in five tries and the Rams three but the second half was dominated by Marist who added a further eight tries to their tally. The first of these came from an intercept by Hayden Cooper, who finished with four tries to his credit, while others to make an impact on the try count were Carlos McCrae (4), Ethan Wallace (3) and Noah "The Butcher" Hargood (2).
The hard running of Jackson Iasona set up several Marist tries while the smallest player on the field, Joel McCrae, impressed with his elusiveness. Tough lock William Clatworthy was excellent value at the breakdowns and Jack McHardy was quick to take advantage of any tentativeness in the opposition defence. Also difficult to keep under wraps was Tremayn Hapi who often had three or four would-be tacklers trying to stop his progress while Jack Moser starred on defence, pulling off at least a couple of try-saving tackles.
So well did the Marist Greens play, in fact, that it was impossible to select a player of the day, rather, all players shared in the honour.
