Club rugby: Putāruru pip Pirongia in atrocious conditions

Pirongia winger Daniel Belk runs the ball against Putāruru. Photo / Julie Gibson

There was a big crowd for Pirongia Rugby Sports Club’s sponsor’s day, witnessing what could only be described as a mud bath as they faced off with Putāruru.

With consistent heavy rain overnight and during the day, the ground turned into mud in places, making play very difficult for both teams.

The two teams went into this match placed third equal on the Waikato Club rugby division 1 table, so it was always going to be a tight game, and that’s exactly how it played out.

Putāruru started stronger and were rewarded with an early try to take a 5-0 lead, but Pirongia hit back almost immediately when the ball was spun wide and Eparama Nadru gathered the last pass to score near the posts.

With the successful conversion from Weston Craig, Pirongia held a slender 7-5 lead.

Play evened out, and in the tough, slippery conditions, play was interrupted with dropped passes and resets.

Putāruru were able to regain the lead with a successful penalty shot just before the halftime break.

Pirongia, playing into a strong wind, came out firing, and after some good phase play, midfielder Sani Ramuwai was able to break through three Putāruru defenders and score under the sticks.

With the easy conversion from Craig, Pirongia led 14-8.

Pirongia continued to attack with strong runs from Stan Rhind, who came close to scoring on several occasions.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t quite finish, and with the rain increasing and the wind picking up, Putāruru gained the ascendancy, using the wind to good effect and consistently pushing back Pirongia into their 22 with long kicks.

With 15 minutes to go, Putāruru, after some sustained attack, were able to break free, and their flanker drove across and scored 15 metres from the posts.

The Putāruru kicker calmly stepped up and successfully converted the try, giving Putāruru a slender 15-14 lead.

As hard as Pirongia tried, they just couldn’t put themselves into a position to score, with Putāruru again using the wind to good effect.

When the final whistle sounded, the score remained 15-14 in favour of the visitors.

The conditions played a major part in this game, and the difference was perhaps the kicking game in the last 20 minutes that gave Putāruru the slight edge.

Pirongia will know that they will need at least one win and a bonus point in the last two games of this round to make the top five.

A special mention goes to the large number of sponsors who came out to enjoy the game.

Clubs can only function with great support, and Pirongia are very grateful to have a number of sponsors who provide it.

It was also great to see the new Finch Contracting electronic scoreboard up and running.

Earlier in the afternoon, Pirongia B struggled against a larger and well-drilled Putāruru B team.

Pirongia held their own for large periods of this match, but where Putāruru were able to convert territory and possession into points, Pirongia just could not get over the line due to some great Putāruru defence.

The final score was 44-0 to Putāruru B.