Otorohanga flex muscles
Otorohanga will aim to take one further big scalp as the giantkillers of Waikato club rugby.
They knocked off table-toppers Hamilton Marist 31-21 in their premier semifinal at Marist Park on Saturday and will now meet Hamilton Old Boys in the final.
It took Otorohanga until the last round to secure their semifinal spot, but momentum was on Otorohanga’s side heading into their semi after four consecutive victories.
The streak of wins started a month ago when they beat Old Boys, who they will meet in their first final appearance since a 2013 loss to Marist.
Otorohanga manager Merv Carr praised his side’s forwards.
‘‘I thought our guys were a little bit slow getting into it, but up 10-9 after halftime, we got the wind behind us and I just thought our forwards were awesome to be honest,’’ he said.
‘‘They controlled the ball well in those conditions, their passing and handling was pretty good.’’
Otorohanga did start slowly in slippery, wet and windy conditions, but it was their discipline that let them down early as a mounting penalty count kept the ball out of their hands.
Marist first-five Joe Simpkins hooked a first shot at goal, but went on to punish Otorohanga by making three penalties in the half – although Otorohanga halfback Te Hata Wilbore claimed one back.
Otorohanga registered the first try when they showed good attacking endeavour after an errant Marist clearing kick and wing Sanivalati Ramuwa split two cover defenders.
Marist coach Andrew Whelan highlighted it as a pivotal moment.
‘‘That try before halftime, people will talk about that, it definitely gave Oto some momentum and we were playing catch up after that,’’ he said.
‘‘Probably the first 35 minutes we felt like we were in control, but we didn’t convert quite enough points and they finished strongly.’’
His team didn’t go down without a fight - early in the second half they kicked deep, chased hard and forced Otorohanga down in their own in-goal.
From the scrum, reserve Sam Vea got down low and dived over the line to snatch the lead back for Marist – but that sparked something in Otorohanga’s pack and they terrorised them from then on.
Following the kickoff, Otorohanga received a scrum on attack, sent the Marist pack reeling and when the ball spilled out, flanker Murray Iti cleaned it up and slipped through to score. Moments later, Marist’s pack were bulldozed again on another Otorohanga scrum penalty and makeshift No 8 Anthony Wise broke the line to dot down.
Marist fought back when they gathered their kickoff and a few phases later quick-tapped a penalty that led to a try for reserve Josh Kaho after some great pick and go. But Otorohanga weren’t done either, as second-five Joe