Touch: Men miss title chance

Te Arawa's Damian Darlington in action at Puarenga Park yesterday. Photo/Ben Fraser

The Te Arawa men's touch team have been pipped to the title during the Maori Touch Nationals in Rotorua.

The home side won the men's open division last year, but were knocked out in the semifinals yesterday by Wairere (Hamilton) 7-4 at Puarenga Park.

Te Rarawa (Northland), who finished runners-up last year, went on to win the men's title while Tainui (Waikato) won the women's open title. Hosts Te Arawa managed to claim two titles, in the under-21 women's and under-17 girls' competitions.

Te Arawa under-21 women's coach Ben Teinakore-Curtis said he was rapt with how his girls played, defeating Terenga Paraoa (Whangarei) in a controversial final.

The game ended 4-4 but there was heated debate over the final scoreline, as Te Arawa believed they won 5-3.

The referees decided to take it to extra-time and Te Arawa scored during a drop-off to win the final. Teinakore-Curtis said his girls played well and showed good composure to win in extra-time.

"Coming into the tournament we only met up on Friday and went through a couple of hours of training," he said. "So the girls did really well. We were only playing with 11 players during the tournament and even had one injury, but she played through the finals."

The under-21 team was captained by Rotorua's Mystery McLean, 17, who was recently named in the Touch Blacks women's squad. She also starred for the Waikite women's rugby team this year.

Te Arawa men's coach Maurice Stone Snr said they were disappointed to lose their semifinal but they had a very young team, and they would be better for the experience.

"It's built a lot of character in terms of developing," he said. "No-one made it easy for us, and knowing we were the defending champions I think a lot of teams came to have a look at us and at the systems we are running."

Hurricanes teammates Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Otere Black both flew up to play in the tournament, with Tahuriorangi playing for Te Arawa while Black played for Wairere.

Stone said it was great to have the tournament in Rotorua which is one of the biggest touch tournaments in the country. Sixty teams entered the competition. There was also a kapa haka event held on Saturday night at the Energy Events Centre where every team shared a performance.

Details

Maori Touch Nationals results:

* Men's open: Te Rarawa (Northland) 6-3 Wairere (Hamilton)
* Women's open: Tainui (Waikato) 5-1 Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland)
* Mixed open: Raukawa Ki Runga (Otaki) 5-4 Raukawa Ki Waikato
* Senior Mixed: Tauranga Moana 5-4 Tainui (Waikato)
* Under-21 men: Te Matau A Maui (Hawke's Bay) 6-5 Tainui (Waikato)
* Under-21 women: Te Arawa 5-4 Terenga Paraoa (Whangarei)
* Under-21 mixed: Waiwhakaata Pourahi 7-5 Papaioea (Palmerston North)
* Under-17 boys: Terenga Paraoa (Whangarei) 6-3 South Queensland
* Under-17 girls: Te Arawa 5-3 South Queensland