Another title for region
Manawatu¯ women have won the Central regional sevens crown for the eighth year in a row, qualifying for the national championships along the way.
Both the Manawatu¯ men and women qualified for the national championships in Auckland this month, after their performances in Levin on Saturday. The Manawatu¯ men finished fourth, which was enough to get through.
The Manawatu¯ women beat Hawke’s Bay 24-12 in the final at Playford Park, their closest game of the tournament.
Manawatu¯ assistant coach Campbell Macneill said things clicked from the start of the tournament.
In pool play they beat Taranaki 48-0 and Poverty Bay 62-0, then beat Wellington 34-7 in the semifinal, which was close at halftime before Manawatu¯ pulled away.
Manawatu¯’s standouts were Crystal Mayes, Corrineke Windle, Hayley Hutana and Janna Vaughan.
Horowhenua Ka¯piti finished sixth after they lost 17-10 to Poverty Bay in their final game.
The Manawatu¯ men lost the third-and-fourth playoff against Hawke’s Bay 26-21, having been beaten 26-0 by Taranaki in the semifinal.
Manawatu¯ were down to eight players late in the day. Te Rangatira Waitokia had tight hamstrings, Reece Brosnan, returning from a broken leg, was rested and two players suffered cramp in the heat.
Manawatu¯ coach Glen Christini didn’t see the big loss to Wellington coming, but was reasonably happy with the weekend’s performance.
In pool play Manawatu¯ beat Poverty Bay 28-12 and Wairarapa Bush 49-7, but lost 36-0 to Wellington.
Forward Ben Werthmuller was their standout, while Kameli Kuruyabaki and wing-cumhalfback Will Treder also played well.
The Wellington men won their third consecutive title, beating Taranaki 26-5.
The Horowhenua Ka¯piti men lost 31-19 to Wairarapa Bush in their final fifth-to-eighth-place playoff game.
Meanwhile, Manukura won the national under-15 girls’ title at the Condor schools sevens championship in Auckland at the weekend, beating Auckland Girls’ Grammar School 31-10 in the final.
The Manukura senior girls’ team won the plate final 22-17 against Mt Albert Grammar School. They earlier beat Feilding High School 31-5, lost to Howick College 22-17, beat Kerikeri High School 38-5, lost to Hamilton Girls’ High School 39-5 and beat Manurewa High School 19-12.
Feilding beat Kerikeri High School 19-10, lost to Howick College 33-10, lost to Kerikeri High School 15-14 and lost to Aorere College 17-14.
The Feilding boys were beaten in the premier semifinals 22-17 by King’s College. They had earlier beaten Wesley College 14-7, Christchurch Boys’ High School 24-0, Sacred Heart College Auckland 22-12 and St Peter’s College 24-10. Palmerston North Boys’ High School won their opening three games, 41-7 against Howick College, 31-7 against Timaru Boys’ High School and 20-0 against St Patrick’s College Wellington. But they then lost 26-0 to Hamilton Boys’ High School and 28-26 to De La Salle College