Rugby: Thames Valley suffer loss to Horowhenua-Kāpiti in high-scoring Heartland game in Whitianga

Thames player Rodney Tongotea lays on the first try of the match.

It was another high-scoring game of rugby for the Thames Valley Swamp Foxes, only for visitors Horowhenua-Kāpiti to take home a 41-35 win in Whitianga.

In the final round-eight game of the Heartland Championship rugby competition at Lyon Park, Whitianga on Saturday, the Foxes bumbled most of the match for only their second loss of the season.

The aim was to secure a valuable home semifinal spot and to achieve that, Thames needed to beat Horowhenua-Kāpiti, a real possibility based on the current form guide.

However, tactical errors and fundamental errors saw the hard-working Horowhenua-Kāpiti upset the high-flying Thames.

For most of the game Horowhenua-Kāpiti led, with a 16-14 score at halftime, then a substantial 38-14 lead with only 20 minutes of the game remaining.

Yet a refreshed Thames side, with players coming off the substitutes bench, narrowed the deficit to 38-28.

Horowhenua-Kāpiti then pumped a long-range penalty to lead 41-28.

The drama continued as Thames scored their fifth try and Fletcher Morgan drilled a conversion from out wide, taking the final score to 41-35 to Horowhenua-Kāpiti.

Things were looking good for Thames as the visitors were reduced to 14 players with a player red-carded.

But it was too little, too late for a dejected Swamp Foxes side.

Thames Valley 35 (A. Thrupp 3, J. Tye, H. Beazley tries, F. Morgan 5 conversions) v Horowhenua-Kāpiti 41 (5 tries, 5 conversions, 2 penalties).

Thames, sitting third in the competition, will now travel to Whanganui for a knockout semifinal.

League leaders South Canterbury will meet their cousins Mid Canterbury in the other semifinal.

After the final Heartland home game of the season, Thames Valley Rugby auctioned off the players’ jerseys as a fundraiser for Goldfields School in Paeroa.

The auction raised $20,000 for the school, whose mission is “I te puāwaitanga o te harakeke, he rito whakakī whāruarua – When the flax blossoms, its many offspring begin their journey”.

Goldfields School student Harper Sandford did a fantastic job as the halftime ball boy, as he wowed the holiday crowd and later nationwide television with his Thames passion and athleticism.

Congratulations to Thames players Korbin Chwesik (captain) and Zeke Collier, who have been named in the New Zealand Heartland Under-20 side to play New Zealand Māori Under-18 Nga Whatukura.

Donald Mackay