Blues blow away Hurricanes Poua
17-0 early blitz hushes hopeful home crowd
If Blues coach Carlos Spencer wanted the perfect start against Hurricanes Poua at Levin Domain at the weekend, he certainly got it. The Blues ran rampant in the first seven minutes and scorched to a 17-0 lead, hushing the home crowd. It was sublime rugby and their coach probably allowed himself a wry smile.
But any curling of Spencer’s lips would have been short-lived as Hurricanes Poua fought their way back into the match to trail 24-15 at halftime.
In the end it was a fairly comfortable 41-29 win to the Blues, and in hindsight it was possibly the challenge Spencer might have wanted heading into the Sky Super Rugby Aupiki final against Chiefs Manawa tomorrow.
There was enough in the performance to suggest the Blues, when they click, would be hard for any team to contain, while also leaving room for improvement given two yellow cards were dished out late in the piece.
Spencer would be wanting his full complement of players on the field for the entire 80 minutes against Chiefs Manawa.
Meanwhile, players stuck around for a long time after the match and signed autographs for fans, including popular local players and sisters Kahurangi and Rangima¯rie Sturmey who grew up playing down the road at O¯ taki for the Rahui club.
They had grown up watching their father Slade Sturmey play at the same ground. He was a former Horowhenua-Ka¯piti captain who played 27 games for his province, many of those at Levin Domain.
Many of the Sturmey wha¯nau were at the ground to cheer on Poua.
Kahurangi, 24, got plenty of game time in what was her first Super Aupiki match at her home ground, coming on in the second half as a replacement at lock. Rangimarie, 20, a midfield back, was forced to miss the game through injury but was kept busy behind the scenes.
Kahurangi said she had looked forward to the game and was excited when Levin Domain was announced as a venue for a Poua match.
“It’s great to be able to play in front of friends and wha¯nau,” she said.
“It’s home. We grew up watching Dad play so to be able to play here and have wha¯ nau here is really nice.”
There was plenty of wha¯nau support for other players within the Hurricanes Poua squad at Levin Domain, a ground with a capacity of 6000.
The competition was in its third season now and it was the second time Levin Domain had hosted a match, Poua having played Chiefs Manawa at the ground last season.
Blues: 41 (Aldora Itunu, Ruahei Demant, Katelyn Vahaakolo, Grace Gago, Chryss Viliko, Jaymie Kolose tries; Krysten Cottrell 2, Patricia Maliepo con) Hurricanes Poua : 29 (Monica Tagoai, Iritana Hohaia, Layla Sae, Harmony Kautai tries’ Hannah King 3 con, pen). HT: 24-15.