Slow start costs Horowhenua
Horowhenua Ka¯ piti coach Chris Wilton is ruing a slow start to the Heartland Championship campaign.
Horowhenua Ka¯ piti lost 30-24 to Mid Canterbury at Easton Park in Foxton on Saturday, having been down 20-0 after 20 minutes and 27-7 at halftime.
Having reached last year’s final, Horowhenua Ka¯ piti started with high hopes, so Wilton was miffed about the result.
‘‘We started off very slow,’’ he said. ‘‘It was a bit of a realisation of what Heartland rugby is about. Mid Canterbury came out firing and it took us a while to react and get into the game.’’
Wilton said they didn’t execute their game plan in the first half, but they did improve in the second spell. Mid Canterbury had the better of scrums and lineouts.
Wilton was now looking forward to their trip to Ruatoria to play East Coast this weekend.
Fullback Himiona Henare and blindside flanker Joel Winterburn were Horowhenua Ka¯piti’s standout players. Defending champions Whanganui beat South Canterbury 21-10 in Whanganui.
The Manawatu¯ Development XV lost 35-21 in their first game of the Hurricanes competition to Wellington Ma¯ ori in Wellington. Manawatu¯ led 11-7 at halftime, despite missing 24 tackles, and they were stringing phases together on attack.
But Wellington’s big ball runners started to make an impact in the second half, as Manawatu¯ missed a further 22 tackles. No 8 Alex Hawira, hooker Chris Cairns and wing Ben Werthmuller all played well. Manawatu¯ host Wellington Samoans at the Arena this weekend.
The Manawatu¯ under-19s had another loss and will play in the bottom eight at the national tournament in Taupo¯ next month.
Manawatu¯ lost 31-12 to Hawke’s Bay at Johnston Park, Feilding – their second loss in seeding. Manawatu¯ started well and were up 7-0, but then missed tackles cost them, as Hawke’s Bay pushed out to a 17-7 lead at halftime.
Hawke’s Bay kept capitalising on defensive mistakes in the second half as Manawatu¯ tried to throw the ball around.
Hawke’s Bay dominated scrums, but Manawatu¯ were better at lineout time. Flanker and captain Jamie Tinetti grabbed lots of turnovers and Jacob Hewetson-talamaivao was good on the wing. Manawatu¯ are away against Wellington this weekend.
In schools rugby, the Manukura girls’ team are through to the national top-four championships in Palmerston North in two weeks after they beat Wellington’s St Mary’s College 38-33 in the Hurricanes final at Awatapu College.
Playing against a bigger St Mary’s side, Manukura spread the ball and used their backs. Manukura had to defend for long periods, but led 19-12 at halftime.
The Manukura forward pack did a good job defending against the big St Mary’s ball runners. Manukura will play Southland Girls’ High School in the top-four semifinal.
Tighthead prop Hinewai Netana-williams, lock Mia Waiariki and centre Carys Dallinger stood out.
The Feilding High School boys’ first XV are through to the Hurricanes co-ed final against Masterton’s Wairarapa College in Palmerston North this weekend, and the winner will qualify for the national top-four final.
Feilding beat Wellington’s Aotea College 53-10 at Johnston Park off the back of a dominant first half, where they led 41-0 at halftime. Aotea were competitive in the second half, but the game was over by that stage.
Halfback Conor Mceldowney, fullback Coby Osborne and hooker Isaiah Robati all shone. Wairarapa College beat Foxton’s Manawatu¯ College 38-27 in the other Hurricanes semifinal.