Whanganui Rugby: Rātana falls short in memorial match against Rangataua

Rātana headed to Tauranga to face Rangataua Sports & Culture Club. Photo / Ivy Digital

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There was one more fixture for a Tasman Tanning Premier team to play this season as Tāmata Hauhā Rātana headed up to Tauranga to face Rangataua Sports & Culture Club on Saturday.

Closely connected whanau through the Rātana Church, the two clubs were playing for the Jamie “Mantis” Berry Memorial Tāonga, the former captain who won the 2006 Premier title.

This season also commemorated 100 years of the Rosebowl – a trophy gifted by the church, Te Haahi Rātana, to be contested by Māori teams in the Bay of Plenty region.

“We already organising, we have a turn-around, so we’ll invite them down to Rātana next year,” said manager Isaac Fonotoe.

Rātana unfortunately were not able to bring the “Mantis” Shield back to the Pa, after a 24-15 loss in a very entertaining fixture at Te Pā O Te Ariki near Tauranga.

Using their talented backline, Rātana went ahead 15-0 early through their wingers, with Hawira Gardiner getting a double and Taylor Kirkwood also dotting down.

Rangataua recovered to trail 15-12 at halftime with two tries and a conversion, and then put on 10 unanswered points to take control.

Rātana threw everything at them in the final 10 minutes, attacking the tryline from all sides, while Rangataua would get turnovers and run the ball back out with end-to-end play.

The visitors were able to take their strongest team as their Steelform Whanganui wider squad selections were granted permission to miss the pre-season training camp at Kaierau Country Club.