Top four pull clear in table of two halves
Big scores dominated round seven of Manawatu club rugby as the top half of the table flexed their muscles over their lesser rated opponents.
After a couple of messy matches, College Old Boys found their attacking mojo in the second half against Te Kawau with a 39-14 win.
Led by their midfield combo Curtis Reid and Patrick Tafili-reid - COB exposed Te Kawau out wide in the second 40 minutes.
But the first half was less polished.
Te Kawau flanker Ben Parkes picked up the opening try after COB failed to tidy up a ball kicked deep into their 22.
While COB looked better with ball in hand, they struggled to retain possession with Te Kawau disrupting the breakdown.
Aimless kicking from both sides meant the game did not have much flow in the first 40 minutes.
Te Kawau hung in the match, but there was a turning point when Osea Rokobu was yellow carded as a victim of his team’s repeated infringing at the breakdown.
Tafili-reid’s try just before the break, which came after a good line-break from Andrew Mcdougall, was a sign of things to come.
COB led 15-7 at the break, but they could have been up by much more had wing Bryce Grant shown any rhythm off the tee. He ended the match with kicking stats of one from seven, luckily he could fall back on a solid performance around the park.
Reid and Tafili-reid became more prominent in the second half with former drawing in multiple tacklers and the latter taking advantage of the space that created.
Tafili-reid finished the match with a hat-trick as COB scored four second half tries.
Te Kawau pulled one try back when Rokobu pulled off an intercept and Adam Boult turned on what is becoming a weekly sprinting spectacle as he blazed away from the chasers.
Prop Tim Cadwallader, lock Manaaki Selby-rickit, flanker Jamie Karatea and halfback Tyler Rogers-holden were all standout players for COB.
Te Kawau’s best were loose forwards Taylor Lowe, Ben Parkes and Hamish Manthel.
(Patrick Tafili-reid 3, Manaaki Selby-rickit, Cory Purton, Curtis Reid, Bryce Grant tries; Grant con, Curtis Reid con)
(Ben Parkes, Adam Boult tries; Temm Kauri 2 con) HT: 15-7 COB. At Rongotea.
An under-strength Varsity beat Freyberg 43-14.
Varsity were down 10 players, who were unavailable, injured or being rested, but proved why they
COB 39 Te Kawau 14
are one of the competition favourites with a strong first half effort. The trio of Tufugas, Sam, Max and Kirk, once again played key roles in Varsity’s dominant forward pack.
Mobile front-rowers Sam and Max were getting plenty momentum with the latter cashing in with a try.
Wing Sam Healy picked up an impressive counter-attacking try as he scooped up a kick ran it back then chipped kicked over the defender and re-gathered for the try.
Nick Birchfield, Caleb Mcdonald, Scott Davidson and Te Rangatira Waitokia also dotted down in the first 40 minutes as the Sky Blues raced out to a 36-0 lead.
But Freyberg came out more determined after the break.
Varsity’s momentum was stalled by a number of early substitutions in the second half and appeared to be hampered by playing with the sun in their eyes.
Freyberg’s forwards started to play a bigger role with No 8 Josh Leung-wai putting in another big performance.
Tila Peti and Wiremu Morgan were others to stand out for Freyberg.
They ended up winning the second half, picking up two tries to one.
Varsity’s best were the Tufuga trio, while Alex Murray was playing well before leaving with an injury in the first half.
(Max Tufuga, Scott Davidson, Te Rangatira Waitokia, Nick Birchfield, Caleb Mcdonald, Sam Healy, Robin Praat tries; Sam Malcolm 4 con) (Titi Ioane, I Masini tires; Wiremu Morgan
Varsity 43 Freyberg 14
2 con) HT: 36-0 Varsity. At Colquhoun.
Jade Te Rure looked to be back to his best as he led Kia Toa around the park for a comfortable 47-12 win over Linton Army.
The former Turbos and Edinburgh No 10 displayed his tidying kicking game and showed plenty of pace as he found plenty of holes in the Linton defence.
He scored three tries, but his final effort came with some concern.
After darting down the field 40m, he was hit an a double tackle as he scored the try. He stayed down after the hit with his troublesome knee looking to be the issue, but post-match it was believed the injury was not too serious.
Kia Toa dominated possession and territory, but it was when they went wide that they found space.
Vilikesa Raboiliku continued his hot form as the big ballcarrying midfielder repetitively punched holes in Linton’s defence.
Despite Kia Toa’s control over the game, Linton had the lead after 10 minutes 7-5 thanks to a Angus White try.
Halfback Tejay Oliver continued to look dangerous with ball in hand around the fringes of the ruck.
Kia Toa finally started to cash in on their attacking dominance and were up 26-12 at the break.
Linton’s lineout fell to pieces in the second half.
Without a reliable set piece, the soldiers struggled to get their hands on the ball.
Prop Tevita Manu, lock Geordie Redfern and second five-eighth Taare Ferris all had strong second half efforts as Kia Toa pulled away for the win.
Linton’s best were White and fellow loose forwards Jimmy Bergham and Leni Tonga.
(Jade Te Rure 3, Jordan Bunce 2, Tevita Manu, Vilikesa Raboiliku tries; Te Rure 5 con, Bunce con) (Angus White, S Akau tries; Adam Erimiha con) HT: 26-12. At Linton.
Old Boys-marist returned to their winning ways as they beat Feilding 41-14.
Yellows were plagued by injuries and unavailabilities which meant they had just 15 players suit up for the match.
With coach Sean Bristow in Auckland, Turbos backs coach Aaron Good pitched in to help.
OBM turned up with plenty of determination.
And while it was not always pretty, they looked to have more confidence than previous weeks.
Young flanker Matene Ruawai continued to prove his potential with a storming game with ball in hand. Tuki Raimona ended up spending much of the match at hooker after Hunter Prescott went down with an injury.
With Jason Temara at first fiveeighth, OBM introduced more width into their defence which helped the likes of Ben Werthmuller and Luther Hirini to get more involved in the game.
Yellows had moments with the ball, but OBM picked up plenty of turnovers and were quick to counter attack.
Feilding was guilty of falling off too many tackles.
Hooker Ricky Cribb, first fiveeighth Ben Wyness and fullback Brad Carr were the best in a losing Yellows effort.
Kia Toa 47 Linton 12
(Tuki Raimona, Bain Champion, Jason Temara, Ben Werthmuller, Luther Hirini, Waisea Qiokata tries; Champion 4 con, pen) (Ben Wyness, Zane Dallinger tries; Wyness 2 con) HT: 24-0 OBM. At Arena.
Old Boys-marist 41 Feilding 14