Varsity clinch Centennial Shield
Varsity locked away the Centennial Shield with a 45-25 win over Te Kawau in the final round of Manawatu club rugby on Saturday.
The bonus point win puts them five points clear on the top of the ladder at the end of the season and followed them picking up the Jubilee Cup for their win in the first round of the competition.
The defending champions will head into the semifinals with just two losses – against Feilding Old Boys-oroua in round one and Feilding last month.
They will host Kia Toa in one semifinal for the Hankins Shield, while College Old Boys take on Old Boys-marist in the other.
Te Kawau’s loss to Varsity did not end up costing them in the Val Holland playoffs where they will host Feilding and fifth-placed Foboroua host Linton Army.
Varsity turned on six tries to ensure they will carry some positive momentum into the knock-out stages.
They were efficient with their use of the ball in first five-eighth Scott Davidson’s 100th match for the club.
Within five minutes, they scored the opener through Reece Brosnan after a Te Rangatira Waitokia-break.
Varsity had a strong set piece and capitalised by using it as the platform for their most promising attacks.
When wing Thomas Kalin scored just before the break, Varsity had already locked up the bonus point they needed to hold onto top spot on the table.
But they were dealt a major blow when lock Mickey Woolliams left the field with a broken collarbone. Woolliams has been one of their strongest performers all season.
Te Kawau were better in the second half with No 8 Harrison Brewer leading most of the attacking charges.
But they were being well handled by Varsity’s defence, led by Hamish Northcott who was outstanding all match.
Varsity finished the job with a couple of late tries, including one to Sam Healy who is heading overseas after the weekend.
Ueta Tufuga, Tom Hughes, Max Tufuga and Northcott were the standouts for Varsity, while Tom Parsons, Ethan Woodmass and Te Atuarere Albert starred for Te Kawau.
(Hamish Northcott 2, Sam Tufuga, Thomas Kalin, Sam Healy, Reece Brosnan tries; Scott Davidson 4 con, Sam Malcolm 2
Varsity 45
con, pen) (James Holland, James Tennant, Shay Ashworth tries; Adam Boult 3 con, pen) HT: 28-10 Varsity. At Massey.
Fob-oroua turned on one of their performances of the season to put away Kia Toa 36-25.
The Stags turned up ready to knock off a big scalp, while Kia Toa appeared happy to settle for fourth on the competition ladder.
Their forward pack was missing a host of regulars and they never managed to get the upper hand over Fob-oroua.
But Kia Toa got on the scoreboard first through prop Ben Lynch-phillips, who was one of Kia Toa’s best.
The Stags answered back when Alex Hawira won a turnover at a ruck and a couple of phases later
Te Kawau 24
Willy Ambaka bagged the try.
Fob-oroua continued to control the ball, but Kia Toa limited the damage by launching some massive tackles.
Vilikesa Raboiliku was the top hitman, but Malua Mauola’s tackle on Stags fullback Zeon Mcnabb would have to be a front-runner for tackle of the year.
Kia Toa’s promising attacks were constantly undone by 50/50 passes.
The sides went into the break with Fob-oroua leading 10-5.
But six minutes into the second half there was a phase of play which swung the game.
Kia Toa first five-eighth put a well-placed cross-field kick for Mauola who sprinted down field and passed to Daniel Mongahan
who broke a tackle for the levelling try.
But right after awarding the try, referee Tim Griffiths turned to Mauola and yellow carded him for no mouthguard.
There had been a number of players heading to the sidelines throughout the match after warnings for no mouthguards and Mauola was the final straw.
While he was off the field, the Stags took full advantage.
Tries to George Macpherson, who steadily grew into the game to play a leading role, and Ambaka gave them a 14-point advantage.
And once Mauola returned to the field, Fob-oroua bagged two more tries through Jamie Perigo to seal the match.
Kia Toa fought back late with three tries to Tevita Manu, Taare Ferris and Tobias Wickhammanuel. The latter saw the young wing burst his way past three defenders.
Feilding Old Boys-oroua 36
(Willy Ambaka 2, Jamie Perigo 2, George Macpherson tries; Tom Stewart 4 con, pen) (Daniel Monaghan, Tevita Manu, Tobias Wickham-manuel, Ben Lynch-phillips, Taare Ferris tries) HT: 10-5 FOB Oroua. At Arena
Everything finally came together for Linton as they upset Feilding 34-20.
Kia Toa 25
The six-tries-to-three win was costly for Feilding who went from hot favourites for a home semifinal in the Val Holland playoffs to now being set for a trip to Rongotea.
It has felt like a matter of time that Linton would have a match where things went right. And with most of their big names – Jaxon Tagavaitau, Hamiora Thomas, Tejay Oliver, Tamatoa Ropati, Sonny Watson, Jimmy Bergham and Matt Cressy – all suiting up, they turned it on early.
Yellows weren’t helped by a number of injuries and players unavailable including Ben Wyness and Matt Dalley.
Linton have found their identity in the past couple of weeks as a team that attacks everything and has a fit pack that can slog it out for 80 minutes.
They scored four early tries which set the tone and Feilding copped a pile of penalties and some questionable calls.
Linton were breaking plenty of tackles and got big reward when they looked wide.
Feilding made a small comeback in the second half as they scored three tries, but the crucial try they needed for a home semifinal eluded them.
Linton’s standouts were Watson, flanker Dylan White and lock Morgan Sloog. While Feilding were well served by wing Andy Williams, who has been playing in Spain, flanker Hamish Wills and prop Luke Clarke.
(Nick Fakahau, Matt Cressy, Jimmy Berghan, Tejay Oliver, Tamatoa Ropati, Sonny Watson; Adam Erimiha 2 con) (Brad Carr, Zac Third, Chris Dalley tries; Andre Hoggard pen, con) HT: 22-3 Linton.
At Lintonfreyberg’s tough campaign 2017 campaign came to a merciful end with their 47-9 loss to Old Boys-marist.
After some poor performances in the back half of the year, they can at least claim to have competed against a side looking for a good springboard into the playoffs.
OBM will happily take the bonus point win, but they will need to take a major step up if they are to upset College Old Boys next weekend.
OBM did have the advantage at set piece and controlled the breakdown for much of the match.
Kameli Kuruyabaki continued his rich streak of form setting up a couple of tries and bagging one of his own.
At 19-9, Freyberg were still in the match at halftime. But missed tackles, and a couple of moments of class from OBM, saw them fall off the pace.
For Freyberg, the focus will turn to recruiting some depth for next season with the likes of Andrew Wood and Karl Stewart unlikely to front for another campaign. But OBM are in with a chance of the club’s first trip to the Hankins Shield final in its amalgamated state.
Linton Army 34 Feilding 20
(Josh Greer, Troy Sherriff, Kameli Kuruyabaki, Jarred Deal, Sam Gattsche, Ben Werthmuller, Ambrose Curtis tries; Bain Champion 5 con, Greer con) (Wiremu Morgan 3 pen) HT: 19-9 OBM. At Arena
Old Boys Marist 47 Freyberg 9