Sports play second fiddle to hot Old Boys
It was a tough day at the office for a Te Awamutu Sports side beaten and bruised by a red hot Hamilton Old Boys side to the tune of 64-15 in Waikato premier rugby.
Old Boys ran in 10 tries at Fred Jones Park on Saturday to resign Sports to another year of promotion relegation.
The Hamiltonians showed why they are sitting in second place on the table and one of the teams to beat all season.
Sports hung tough in the first half after again conceding a try in the opening minute.
Old Boys slowly broke the back of the Sports’ defence scoring three first half tries, then took complete control in the second half as the physicality took its toll and floodgates opened.
Evaan Reihana slotted a penalty goal to have Sports trailing 21-3 at the break.
Sports found themselves on the back foot immediately in the second half.
Two perfectly executed rolling mauls blew the score out to 33-3 within minutes before the opposition finally got some possession in Old Boys territory and were rewarded for a brutal exchange at ruck time with No.8 Fetu Sasalu scoring to pull it back to 33-8.
Old Boys struck straight back before Sasalu crossed again in the face of some unforgiving defence around the fringes for a 40-15 scoreline.
Sports were spent from the constant tackling and a physical exchange to earn their two tries.
The Old Boys backs ran riot in the last 15 minutes, scoring 24 unanswered points. Their speed and ball handling made a mockery of the wet conditions.
Down on firepower, Sports were tasked with a huge mountain against the mammoth Hamilton Old Boys side, and couldn’t match the physicality for the full game. Sasalu again showed no regard for his body as he hurled himself into the fire and was backed up by inspirational skipper Simon Kay.
Flanker Matthew Towers and Patrick O’Sullivan got through a mountain of defensive work and prop Gordon Fullerton carried strongly.
Sports now has two weeks off with a bye next week and the competition-wide bye the following week before the second round begins.