Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Rugby: Girls show the big boys how it's done

By Greg Taipari
Rotorua Daily Post·
30 Sep, 2013 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rotorua's Chevy-Lee Crean takes the ball up during her side's win.

Rotorua's Chevy-Lee Crean takes the ball up during her side's win.

While the Steamers may be struggling, hope isn't entirely lost for Bay rugby.

The Bay of Plenty secondary schoolgirls' rugby team have won the Northern Region competition, beating last year's champions Auckland 45-17.

Lead by inspirational captain, Opotiki's Luka Connor, the side were too powerful for their northern neighbours.

In his second year as coach Charlie Hurihanganui told the Rotorua Daily Post yesterday he was proud of the girls' effort.

"I'm extremely proud and honoured to coach this team this year, because we've done a hell of a lot of work to get to this stage here and it's always difficult to beat Auckland and Auckland have really dominated over the last few years."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hurihanganui said the win was set up by the forward pack with players like powerhouse prop Diandra Punivalu from Rotorua Girls' High School leading the way up front.

"Our forwards really set the platform for the team and just took it to the Auckland big forwards and dominated ... and everything just started from there, really."

Playing into a strong head wind in the first half, Hurihanganui said the plan was to keep it tight.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"[Auckland] won the toss but they didn't use the conditions very well. They never kicked into the corners or anything like that. They just tried to run the ball so we just tried to put pressure on them with our defence and just tackled them out of the game."

Whakatane High School lock Jimi-Leigh McLean along with loose forwards Ashleigh Nathan and Natalie Delamere, both from Rotorua Girls' High School, were standouts for Hurihanganui.

"It's really looking promising for the Bay now because they've been really struggling for the last few years and when I took over last year, they hadn't won a game for so many years."

The side piled on the points in the first half going into the break 33-10.

Discover more

Rugby: Cost-cutting blamed for time woes

02 Oct 05:00 PM

Rugby: Final nail as Steamers relegated

13 Oct 05:00 PM

Hurihanganui said with the wind at their backs and a vocal home crowd on the Rotorua Girls' High School field the side continued to pile on the pressure

"In the second half we just kept it nice and close. So we brought the backs in nice and close and it was easier to do the passes and all that and kept it really tight in the forwards and just kicked for the corners."

Hurihanganui said a number of the players in his secondary schoolgirls' team had done enough to get a call up into the women's squad which he also coached.

"I've got the Bay women's now and we have a mini tournament coming up in two weeks' time, up in Hamilton - so a few of those girls will get selected for the Bay women's side to go away and that's a stepping stone."

Bay of Plenty 45 (Stacey Waaka 2, Luka Connor 2, Diandra Punivalu, Natalie Delamere, Tamia Dinsdale tries; Sienna Whare 5 cons) Auckland 17.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Sport

Nigella Lane outruns Dark Destroyer for 'deserved' Rotorua win

10 May 05:00 PM
Sport

Tomodachi delivers milestone win for Andrew Scott in Rotorua mud

10 May 05:48 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Downpours put Rotorua race meeting under threat

09 May 05:00 PM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Nigella Lane outruns Dark Destroyer for 'deserved' Rotorua win

Nigella Lane outruns Dark Destroyer for 'deserved' Rotorua win

10 May 05:00 PM

'I knew that she wouldn’t take a backward step if it got down to a dogfight.'

Tomodachi delivers milestone win for Andrew Scott in Rotorua mud

Tomodachi delivers milestone win for Andrew Scott in Rotorua mud

10 May 05:48 AM
Downpours put Rotorua race meeting under threat

Downpours put Rotorua race meeting under threat

09 May 05:00 PM
Punters should be on weather watch ahead of Rotorua feature

Punters should be on weather watch ahead of Rotorua feature

08 May 05:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP