Whakarewarewa fullback Te Rangi Fraser was in fine form against Mount Maunganui on Saturday. Photo / Ben Fraser
Whakarewarewa can hold their heads high, despite losing 38-20 to Mount Maunganui.
They threw everything at the defending champions and dominated for long periods, but the Mount showed all their class in the final stages as they clicked into another gear and blew out the score.
Whakarewarewa were on the attack early in the game when Mount Maunganui failed to deal with the opening kick-off, giving the home side early possession.
The men in red and black made it count as they shifted the ball right where centre Matthew Garland did his best impression of Sonny Bill Williams, drawing in defenders before throwing a perfect flick pass out the back of his hand for fullback Te Rangi Fraser to crash over in the corner.
Mount Maunganui hit back almost immediately with a textbook play by the forwards. They had a lineout 5m out from the try line, formed a maul and drove over. All hooker Mafi Fifita had to do was fall over the line. Fullback Coby Miln, fresh out of the 2017 Super 8 winning Hamilton Boys' High School first XV, nailed the conversion from the left to give his team the lead.
Whakarewarewa continued to dominate territory, however, and were soon in again through first five Kelly Haimona, who scooped up a loose ball to score next to the posts. He converted and minutes later kicked a penalty to make it 15-7.
Mount Maunganui scored two more tries before halftime, one a mirror image of their opening try, the second a swift backline move started by first five Matt Golding, in his 100th game for the club, and finished off by Zar Lawrence under the posts. Both were converted by Miln and Mount Maunganui took a 21-15 lead into the sheds.
Whakarewarewa scored early in the second half after breaking into the mount 22m they shifted the ball right where fullback Fraser summed things up perfectly, drawing defenders before putting winger Reuben Edwards over in the corner. At 21-20 it was game on.
Unfortunately for the home side, that is when Mount Maunganui found another gear scoring two more converted tries through Golding and the impressive Miln, who deserved to be rewarded for a strong game. He converted both and kicked a penalty of fulltime to blow the score out to 38-20.
After the match Golding said it felt good to reach the 100-game milestone and better still to get the win.
"There's a good core group of older guys who have sort of set the tone in recent years, so it's nice to be part of," he said.
He described his side's performance as "resilient".
"Just because of the amount of errors we made, particularly in the first half, we wasted the wind a bit with some kicking errors and things like that.
"As soon as we changed our mindset in the second half and held on to the ball a lot better, we kept them out of it and starved them of possession."
He said Miln had been a valuable addition to the team this year.
"He brings a lot of confidence and a lot of chat, which is nice, it saves some of our older guys' voices. He's a sharp kicker, I think I've lost those duties, but I'm happy for him to have them."
Whakarewarewa coach Joe Savage said, overall, both sides played well.
"I think there were times we took our opportunities but times we failed to do so as well, especially in the second half. You can attribute that to a bit of fitness. Obviously they've got guys who turn up week in, week out and put in the hard yards. We've struggled to get numbers a little bit, which is a bit disappointing, but hopefully over the next few weeks we get a bit of consistency with numbers, otherwise we're going to be battling," Savage said.
Baywide Premier Club Rugby Results:
Tauranga Sports 13 v Te Puke Sports 9
Rangataua 28 v Ngongotaha 19
Arataki 38 v Whakatane Marist 26
Mount Maunganui Sports 38 v Whakarewarewa 20
Te Puna v Paroa - no result received
Rotoiti 29 v Greerton Marist 12
Baywide Premier Development Club Rugby Results:
Te Puke Sports 18 v Tauranga Sports 3
Rangataua 14 v Ngongotaha 10
Arataki 57 v Whakatane Marist 22
Mount Maunganui Sports 46 v Whakarewarewa 0
Te Puna v Paroa - no result received
Greerton Marist 31 v Rotoiti 29
Baywide Division One Results:
Rangiuru v Ruatoki – Rangiuru win by default
Kahukura 17 v Papamoa 10
Marist St Michael's 56 v Waimana 7
Waikite 50 v Murupara 12
Te Teko 53 v Poroporo 0
Opotiki 38 v Judea 7
Results supplied by the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union