Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

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

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

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

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • 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 / Whanganui Chronicle

Rugby: Wanganui's new era begins with win over Saracens

By Jared Smith
Sports Editor·Whanganui Chronicle·
13 Aug, 2017 12:18 PM4 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

Roman Tutauha led from the front in his first game as captain of Wanganui in the win over Hawkes Bay Saracens in Napier on Saturday.

Roman Tutauha led from the front in his first game as captain of Wanganui in the win over Hawkes Bay Saracens in Napier on Saturday.

Steelform Wanganui were finally able to tick the win column for a 2017 preseason match and showed they still have plenty of punch out wide after a strong first quarter set them up for a 33-14 vicotry over Hawkes Bay Saracens on Saturday.

Putting behind the disappointments of the mid-season games and starting afresh for the upcoming Mitre 10 Heartland Championship, Wanganui hit their hosts hard in the opening 25 minutes at Tremaine Field in Napier.

In wet conditions, the backs handled the ball well and winger Samu Kubunavanua was the man on the end of the chain, ultimately scoring four tries.

Blindside flanker Tremaine Gilbert, determined to stake his claim as a regular starter this campaign, got the other try, while first-five Craig Clare and his replacement Dane Whale shared the conversions.

A little bit of the momentum left Wanganui's side in the second half as they tried new combinations and the big Saracens outfit began to rumble forward, but visitors were still willing to do the tough stuff on defence - restricting the hosts to two tries.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Probably always to be expected when you're making those changes," said assistant coach Jason Hamlin.

"The first 25 minutes were brilliant. Good speed, maintained possession to get through.

"While we didn't get a hell of a lot of points in the second half, they showed they defended very well."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

As the backs coach, Hamlin was pleased to see the new combinations functioning, as Clare reverted back to first five after a club season at centre, while new centre Kaveni Dabenaise made a good midfield partnership with Timoci Seruwalu.

Timoci Seruwalu looks to offload.
Timoci Seruwalu looks to offload.

The in-form Kubunavanua was there "doing the tidy up stuff".

"He worked for [the tries] but they were pretty much created for him and finished off like a good winger should," said Hamlin.

Hamlin also had praise for Gilbert, as he and fellow flanker Jamie Hughes now take on added workload after the retirement of Peter Rowe.

"He's been training well, he's played well today, you can't speak highly enough of him.

"Good to see boys putting their hands up."

Hughes covered the first half while new understudy Angus Middleton got his chance in the second stanza.

The other young loose forward Lake Ah Chong would have gone on earlier than he did, but Wanganui had to cover the sinbinning of prop Raymond Salu, who had only just jogged on himself but infringed after the team had already received a final warning about professional fouls.

Hamlin said the fitness was not quite there to maintain the game plan that had worked so well in the first half, but the coaching staff got a good idea of what key areas to fix up at training this week.

One veteran very excited for the match was the new Wanganui captain in hooker Roman Tutauha.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It was a big honour and a big privilege that the coaches have placed in me to try and step up to that role," he said.

Tutauha said the Saracens played with the pride expected from players in a professional union, as they had the depth on the bench to lift the intensity in the second half, with Wanganui having to step up on defence.

"They have been the last couple of years - very physical and tough.

"Definitely, coming up to their home, they actually threw everything they had at us.

"It wasn't here and there, it was the 80 minutes. We were able to combat the physicality."

Wanganui will play their last preseason match against Horowhenua-Kapiti for the Bruce Steel Memorial Cup this Saturday.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Wanganui 33 (Samu Kubunavanua 4, Tremaine Gilbert tries; Craig Clare 3 con, Dane Whale con) bt Hawke's Bay Saracens 14. HT: 26-0.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running

Sponsored Stories

Rugby: Marist Knights seize senior title

Sponsored Stories

Rugby: One point in it as Taihape edge Kaierau


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running
Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running

'I’m doing it again to compete in it, rather than just complete it.'

15 Jul 05:00 PM
Rugby: Marist Knights seize senior title
Sponsored Stories

Rugby: Marist Knights seize senior title

14 Jul 05:00 PM
Rugby: One point in it as Taihape edge Kaierau
Sponsored Stories

Rugby: One point in it as Taihape edge Kaierau

14 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
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
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP