Wanganui Collegiate ultimately took the Wanganui Secondary Schools rugby title and the Cooper Cup with it yesterday, but not before its players had spent much of the game grasping midair with their tackles.
Collegiate scored six tries to Wanganui City College's four in winning the match 36-24 at City College,
in a match dominated by many mistakes by both sides, but a huge desire to run at all costs.
Collegiate's fullback Jack Hurley was the individual star, producing a hat-trick of tries and putting wing Jonty Nesbitt in for another. What appealed about his play - outside his undoubted pace - was an ability to draw the final tackler in very tight before putting his outside men away.
Collegiate tried to play with great width, whereas City College, with many of their players versed in league skills, tended to concentrate on going up the middle - and indeed found Collegiate's defensive line in all sorts of trouble in the close-in channels.
Players like Wanganui U18 rep midfielders Patrick Hiscox and Jesse Taupa'u, left wing Raniera Manuel and halfback Te Rau Wirihana showed throughout the match that defence has not been a Collegiate concentration in recent weeks - certainly it didn't appear that way. Collegiate started with two quick tries and looked likely to run away with the game, but City College steadied, got its hands on the ball and replied with a try by Manuel who waltzed through a gap alongside the ruck that was so wide he couldn't see the other side.
