A second-half hat-trick of tries to Pikiao Warriors centre Joe Nuku sealed an emphatic 66-14 flogging of Hamilton Hornets in round two of the Waicoa Bay competition.
It was the second week in a row the Waikato men have been late for their game, with the kickoff delayed by 15 minutes at Puketawhero Park.
However, that didn't seem to unsettle the Hornets, who scored from the kickoff after a great set of six, with behemoth prop Fitu Sili smashing through some weak Pikiao tackles to score the first of his sides three tries at the weekend.
In fact, it seemed Pikiao were awe struck for the first 10 minutes of the game - they struggled to meet the Hornets at the advantage line and dropped off a lot of their first-up tackles. It took a bollocking run from Pikiao captain Jason Kameta to settle his team's nerves.
Kameta exposed a flaw in the Hornets' defence - by getting the ball at the advantage line and running two out from the ruck he found the Hornets' tackling weak. In his first hit-up he made a 20m break, offloaded to his right centre who was cut down just 5m short of the line. The ball was quickly spun left, exposing more holes in the Hornets' defence for BJ Raroa to go over for the first of his team's 12 tries.
Pikiao picked up their intensity after that and exploited the weakness Kameta had exposed. Kameta's young propping partner Te Kahu Huata had an outstanding game, filling in for the injured Ivor Thomas. Huata showed no fear taking the ball up and hitting the line with conviction. He gave his side exactly what was required - momentum; opening up plenty of opportunity for stand-off Pirikawana Taiatini and halfback Raroa plenty of room to work their magic, which they did scoring two tries apiece.
Taiatini is a class act, with space he can set any backline alight and it will be hard for Waicoa Bay Stallions coach Morgan Kutia to not give this guy a run some time this season for the Stallions.
Another Warrior for Kutia to have a look at is Joe Nuku - for years he was the enforcer at his former club Ngongotaha and at first it appeared he had taken some time to adjust to the Pikiao culture. But now he seems to be at home and back to his old form.
Nuku came on late in the first spell and had a quiet first 15 minutes. Despite that his team dominated the first half, piling on five more tries to go into the break 32-4 up.
What will be a concern for Pikiao coach Selwyn Rikiti is the way his team starts each spell slowly. Against weaker teams Pikiao can afford to, but if you give a team like Ngaruawahia a sniff, they will pile on 20 or 30 points.
Sili again opened the scoring for the Hornets with some classic hard running. He is the size of a dump truck but has the speed of an outside back and there weren't too many who were keen to try to bring the big man down. His try was converted by Nace Rameka and they soon had Pikiao standing under their post again when Ngarotata Bristowe barged over for his side's final try.
Pikiao finally found their rhythm, scoring six unanswered tries, the first to Nuku who scored three tries. If there is one thing critical of the big centre - he often forgets he has a man outside of him and looks to break the tackle rather than give his wing man the chance to use his pace. But if he's scoring tries it's hard to throw fault at him. No better example, was his last try - a 65m solo effort. Nuku was given the ball from behind the advantage line, he bumped off two would-be tacklers, ran 30m where he pushed off another two tacklers to score.
In other matches in the round Ngaruawahia Panthers share the top of the table with Pikiao after they beat the Otumoetai Eels 26-10 who are third on the table. Tauranga Whalers and Turangawaewae are fourth equal after drawing their match 32-32.
In the black section Taniwharau lead after beating Taupo Phoenix 40-30, Pacific Sharks are second despite losing to third-placed Hamilton City Tigers 34-24, Taupo are fourth on the table while Hukanui are bottom of the table after the bye.
Results: Taupo Phoenix 30, Taniwharau 40; Hamilton City Tigers 34, Pacific Sharks 24; Pikiao Warriors 66, Hamilton Hornets 14; Tauranga Whalers 32, Turangawaewae 32; Ngaruawahia Panthers 26, Otumoetai Eels 10.
Points table
Black section: Taniwharau 6, Pacific Sharks 3, Hamilton City Tigers 2, Taupo Phoenix 2, Hukanui 1.
Blue section: Pikiao Warriors 6, Ngaruawahia 6, Otumoetai Eels 4, Turangawaewae 3, Tauranga Whalers 3, Hamilton Hornets 2.
Point scorers: Pikiao 66 (BJ Raroa 2, Tiakiawa Tahuriorangi, Jason Kameta 2, Manaaki O'Brien, Pirikawana Taiatini 2, Joe Nuku 3, Balmain Smith, tries; Pirikawa Taiatini 3 cons, BJ Raroa 2 cons, Connor Hohepa 4 cons) Hamilton Hornets 14 (Fitu Sili 2, Ngarotata Bristowe, tries; Nace Rameka 1 con). Halftime: 32-4.