Hunter passes on 3
Hunting for tries iswhat the aptly named Hunter Mokomoko loves doing most on the rugby field.
The Te Puna winger scored two tries in his side's impressive
35-15 win over Rangataua Sports at theweekend, as their unbeaten run advanced to 10 games this season.
Mokomoko should have had a hat-trick of tries but late in the game he unselfishly passed to Steamers centre Terrence Hepetema, who was back in Te Puna after a spellwith the Blues.
Mokomoko, 21 today, is in his third year in the Bay of Plenty Academy after moving north having first made his name in the Gisborne Boys 1st XV and playing for Poverty Bay in the
2015 Heartland Championship. He and right winger Tana Tuhakaraina have been getting much of the spoils at the end of a dazzling backline but the powerful pack has been bettered by none this season.
“I have enjoyed this season a lot. It has been the best year so far especially howwell the boys are going,” Mokomoko said.
“We have prettymuch had the same team so it has been good coming through with them. “
He says captain and playmaker Te Aihe Toma deserves the accolades for setting the plays in motion and sniffing out opportunities for the rest of the backs.
“Itmakes it a lot easier having someone like him turning the boys around. He has good chat out there somakes it easier to do your job.”
Two of the Te Puna tries started deep in their own 22 after Rangataua turned the ball over.
The best of them was a spectacular effort finished off by athletic Fijian lock Etonia Waqa after Toma took off from under his own posts on a 70m run.
While this has been a special season so far, no one in the blue and black Te Puna jersey is getting ahead of himself.
The season really starts when the Championship round kicks off in a fortnight.