Waimea stun defending champions
After four weeks where it looked like last year’s finalists Central and Marist could dominate the Stuff Tasman Trophy, the club rugby competition had its first big upset.
Waimea Old Boys turned in the performance of the round to beat champions Central 34-7 in front of a jubilant crowd at Jubilee Park on Saturday.
In the other matches of the competition, Marist went to the top of the table after steamrollering Nelson, and Kahurangi edged Stoke in a tight tussle at Greenmeadows.
Waimea Old Boys 34 Central 7
The boilover of the season started from the first minute at Jubilee Park when Waimea’s Hoani Herewini-Dygas went over in the corner after a textbook exit, lineout and backline move.
From the kickoff, Waimea stormed back on the attack and winger Karl Palmer dotted down. “We started bloody well and we kept the pressure on,” said Waimea coach Scott McKenzie.
He said the team played smart for the first 40 minutes, dominating territory and the scoreboard.
In the second half, Central had more of the ball, but McKenzie was proud of the home team’s defence that kept the defending champions to a solitary try.
While the whole team played well, he singled out lock Jeen Salton, winger Flynn Bainbridge and No 8 Theo Simone for special mention.
Stoke 24 Kahurangi 27
After a stuttering start where the home team dropped off tackles and were behind 27-10 midway through the second half, few could have predicted the tense finale to the match.
Tries to Caleb Coventry and Keegan Thomas brought the home team to within three points with four minutes left in front of a re-energised crowd at Greenmeadows.
But Kahurangi, which had built a comfortable lead on the back of a strong performance by its forwards led by No 8 East Timor Viliamu, held on to the points.
Nelson 20 Marist 72
Marist ran in 11 tries, including five in the last 15 minutes, to run away from Nelson at Trafalgar Park in a victory that took it to the top of the table. Nelson had competed well to be down 22-8 at halftime but could not contain the rampant green machine in the second half.
Standings: Marist 16, Central 12, Kahurangi 11, Waimea 10, Stoke 7, Moutere 4, Nelson 1.