John B Phillips
Scoreboards come in handy at sporting venues and this was notable at both the Kaierau Country Club and in Hunterville recently.
Spectators at Devon Rd for the Kaierau v Ngamatapouri premier fixture could not keep check of the game score because young vandals gained access to the rear of the ground's Ross Family Clock, fiddled around with switches, and the scoreboard official on the opposite side of the field could not update the match scores.
The Ross clock, which has operated at the ground for a quarter of a century, was donated to the club by Gillian and son Blair Ross in memory of Gillian's late husband Barry, a publican at the Castlecliff Hotel who was a staunch Kaiwaka supporter.
The family had other important links with the club – Gillian's great-grandfather Duncan Blair was elected vice-president at the first Kaierau meeting in February 1891 and her grandfather John (Jack) Alexander Blair was the club's first All Black.
Jack Blair, a hooker, helped the North Island beat the South 16-3 in the inaugural inter-island match at Wellington in 1897, and toured Australia with the All Blacks, playing in nine games against state teams and scoring a try and kicking a conversion. He played 33 times for Whanganui between 1890 and 1900. Blair Ross represented Whanganui 43 times between 1994 and 2003.
On the same day as the Kaierau-Ngamatapouri ground scoreboard problems, it was a historic day at the Hunterville-Utiku OB senior game in Hunterville.
The old Spriggens Park clock was operated for the first time in seven years. When a new electric scoreboard was installed at Spriggens Park in conjunction with greyhound racing the Hunterville club arrived with trucks, dismantling the sturdy wooden support structure and also taking the workings and face front of the old clock.
The clock was packed away but was recently the workings were reconditioned, the clock face was modernised and operated perfectly, ticking away the minutes as unbeaten Hunterville demolished Utiku OB 43-0.
Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau are shooting for a third successive scalping of Byford's Readimix Taihape at Memorial Park when the two premier sides meet in the 2021 Tasman Tanning Whanganui premier qualifying series on Saturday.
Although Taihape have contested the final for the past two years, Kaierau pipped the 2019 champions 17-16 and beat the 2020 runners-up 22-12 on the past two appearances at the ground.
Kaierau are ahead 29-15 in total games between the two clubs during the new millennium, with the 2006 match in Taihape drawn 12-all. The maroon and golds have won a dozen times and drawn once in 19 away fixtures.
The bulk of Kaierau's victories came between 2001 and 2011 when the city-siders were unbeaten in 25 games including the drawn match during an era when most of the squads were Pacific islanders. But over the past nine years rejuvenated Taihape is ahead 13 victories to five.
The two clubs are level pegging in second equal place this season, five points adrift of unbeaten Waverley Harvesting Border who notched home wins over Taihape (39-22) and Kaierau (37-10) in the past fortnight.
Success on Saturday in Taihape will go a long way to helping the winners qualify for a home semifinal on July 10 because they are probably again heading for the second and third qualifying positions and these two qualifiers will clash in the semis.
Although locked together this campaign, Taihape have scored more points (193) and tries (30) than Kaierau (103 points – 15 tries) with Taihape's stats boosted from last Saturday's record 81-14 thrashing of Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist, a runaway victory that yielded 13 tries.
Fourteen Taihape players have dotted down tries this year headed by No.8 Ben Whale (six) and Tiari Mumby, Beau Walker and Tyler Rogers-Holden (three each) with goalkicker Dane Whale providing 48 points including 20 conversions.
Ethan Robinson (43 points), the leading points-scorer last year, and Karl Pascoe are the top Kaierau try-scorers with three each.
Taihape, who suffered two narrow defeats at Memorial Park last season – 17-18 to Border and 12-22 v Kaierau – are unbeaten on home soil this winter.
The other two Top 4 sides, leaders Border and fourth-positioned McCarthy Transport Ruapehu, meet at Rochfort Park in Ohakune this weekend.
There has been little between the two clubs since Border returned from Taranaki in 2011 with the Mountain Men ahead 12 wins to 11.
Last season Border completed a third qualifying double success against Ruapehu, winning 58-13 at home and 44-12 in Ohakune.
After the 2020 defeat, by the highest score in Border's 11 trips north, Ruapehu will be seeking a much closer result but will need a sustained all-round team effort to upset the reigning champions, especially following an unexpected 21-26 away loss to Settlers Honey Ngamatapouri a week ago.That loss means that Ruapehu now hold only fourth place by two points.
So far this year Ruapehu have held off visiting Marist 29-22, and lost away against Ngamatapouri, Kaierau (5-36) and Taihape (22-38).
Ruapehu, however, have experienced a much healthier start to the present campaign compared with 2020 when the side started with six defeats on end before winning a game and eventually scrambling into the semis as the fourth qualifying team.
Border are already assured of winning the first-round title, the Paul Mitchell Cup and Grand Café and Eatery $500 voucher, but will want to continue an unbeaten season and retain the overall competition lead.
Marist and Ngamatapouri may be the bottom two sides again this season and they have their own personal duel, at Spriggens Park on Saturday.
Depending on Ruapehu's fortunes there is the chance of Ngamat or Marist reaching the semis, Marist for the first time since 2017 and Ngamat for the very first occasion.
Hosts Marist may have a statistical advantage this weekend, having won all four previous clashes at the park – 28-6 last year, 35-15 in 2019, 36-10 in 2018 and 38-31 in 2017.
But results last weekend – Marist suffering their heaviest defeat in 116 games since losing 83-7 away to Ruapehu in 2013 and Ngamat recovering from 5-21 down at halftime to collect a first home win over Ruapehu – throws a new light on Saturday's clash.
Ngamatapouri's two wins from seven meetings against Marist were both up the Waitotara Valley: 30-28 in 2017 and 21-16 last season. But with three-quarter Joeli Rauca's hat-trick of tries inspiring his team to a thrilling scalping of Ruapehu a week ago, Ngamat have a real hope of reaching the playoffs and a historic win at Spriggens Park could inspire the "Valley Boys".
The stripping of Harvey Round Motors Ratana of the 47-22 fourth-round victory over Ruapehu and forfeiture of the Stihl Shop Wanganui Challenge Shield came as a bolt out of the blue.
Despite being told to not play an unregistered player, the 2020 senior champions fielded the player during the match in Ohakune and paid the automatic penalty – loss of championship points and handing over of the trophy at stake to the opposition.
Ratana dropped from first equal to third equal but bounced back with a 64-0 win at Waverley last weekend to climb into second equal place with Ali Arc Logistics-DNA Kennels Marist Celtic who lifted the Challenge Shield off Ruapehu 54-7.
Celtic are this weekend away to Taihape to tackle Utiku OB, a side that lifted the shield 20-10 off Bennett's Taihape in the first round in 2020 only to be taken apart 48-17 in Ratana a week later. Ratana then disposing of eight challenges during an unbeaten season.
Ratana had defended the trophy at home against Taihape (28-22) and away against Celtic (30-3) and Utiku OB (19-12) this year before the unfortunate Ohakune affair.
Celtic had most recently won the shield 31-7 off McCrea Scanning Counties at Spriggens Park in 2018, only to lose it 23-20 to Border seven days later.
On-form Celtic, a side with only one loss this year, should beat Utiku before returning to the same field a week later to tackle Taihape.
Ratana and Black Bull Liquor Pirates, level on the same points as Celtic, meet at Spriggens Park with table-topping Kelso Hunterville home to 10th-placed Border.
Buffalos (v Speirs Food Marton), Ruapehu (v Counties) and Bennett's Taihape (v Gemini Pepper Construction Kaierau) also have home matches.
'I came here in December and I just fell in love.'