Eels take it to students from getgo
Taieri ................................... 38 University ........................... 14
Taieri will win more trophies this season if it plays like it did in the first 15 minutes and the last 10 minutes at Peter Johnstone Park on Saturday.
The Eels were utterly dominant in those spells as they rode an aggressive forward pack and a couple of silky back moves to regain the Sapsford Memorial Trophy with a welldeserved 3814 win.
It was oneway traffic in the opening exchanges as the home forwards, inspired by devastating No 8 Sam Fischli, utterly battered the students.
Cam Millar ghosted through some ineffectual defence to open the scoring, and when Fischli pounced on a turnover and scampered 60m for a try, things looked grim for University.
The students regained some composure to trail just 2014 at the break, scoring late in the half when Fischli was in the bin.
Much of the second half was a dire affair under gloomy skies, but Taieri showed some late sparkle, swooping on two intercepts that led to tries.
Other standouts in the Taieri pack were abrasive hooker Brady Robertson and workhorse lock Brodie Hume, while Kace O’Neill showed some nice touches at halfback and Caleb Leef was good value at fullback.
Lock Lawrence LeungWai did some sterling lineout work for University, and fullback Jacob WaikariJones looked a class act. Green Island ..................... 20 AlhambraUnion ................. 20
Honours were shared at Miller Park as both teams used the stiff breeze to their advantage.
Green Island clung to a 208 lead with eight minutes to play but AlhambraUnion finally capitalised on its secondhalf dominance to score two late tries and seal the first draw of the season.
The Grizzlies scored tries through frontrowers Harry Hansen and Sitiveni Tupou in the first half, and Finn Hurley did the rest with his boot as the home team led 173 at the break.
AlhambraUnion turned with the wind and thoroughly dominated the second half but struggled to break the GI line until near the end.
Green Island’s scrum was on top throughout the game, and Marko Venter impressed in his debut at lock.
James Arscott was tidy at halfback, and young fullback Finn Hurley again showed some lovely touches in his first season at this level.
For AU, Noah Hotham and Ben McCarthy provided a 12 punch behind the scrum, and Vilimoni Koroi always threatened. No 8 Tyron Pelasio was the pick of the forwards. Dunedin ............................... 23 Kaikorai ................................ 15
Dunedin played into a strong southerly in the first spell and started the game impressively and built phase play nicely. But every time it got into the opposition 22, it was guilty of turning over possession and allowing Kaikorai to exit with some booming punts from midfielder Ben Miller.
This was to haunt Dunedin for much of the game.
Finally, it found success when Tomas Hanham Carter put a bomb into the 22 and Kaikorai failed to clear and lost winger Filipo Tovio to the bin in the process.
From the resulting lineout prop Rohen Wingham crashed one from the maul to give Dunedin a sevenpoint lead.
Kaikorai only got into the Dunedin 22 twice in the spell despite the big wind, but it capitalised with Miller and No 8 Malu Poutu going over from close range to lead 107 at the break.
Young first five Ajay Faleafaga was deadly from the kicking tee in deplorable conditions and banged over two penalties early in the second spell, giving Dunedin a 1310 lead.
Kaikorai got back into the Dunedin 22 again after turnover over possession and Jordan McEntee went over to the corner after 20 minutes, putting Kaikorai back in front 1513.
Dunedin was playing all the rugby and was finally rewarded when Faleafaga kicked his third penalty to put Dunedin in front with six minutes to go. Then, with seconds to go, replacement midfielder Ben Shepherd put a kick through and fullback Tommy Clout won the race to the ball wide out. Faleafaga nailed the conversion from the touchline to deny a gallant Kaikorai the bonus point.
Dunedin will have to work on its kicking game as it was largely ineffective and Kaikorai easily handled it.
For Dunedin Ed Whyte dominated the lineouts and was strong on the carry. Loosies Josh Retter and Hame Toma were everywhere and carried really strongly. Faleafaga displayed some nice touches and his goal kicking proved the difference.
Harrison Morton won most of Kaikorai’s lineout ball and Jake Russ the openside was a terrier at the ruck and strong defensively. Ben Miller’s kicking game kept Kaikorai in the battle. Harbour ................................. 22 ZingariRichmond ................ 12
Harbour was the benefactor of an errorplagued ZingariRichmond performance at Montecillo to retain the W. Scoles Memorial Trophy for a 14th consecutive year.
In the final wash not a lot separated the two sides, with only two early breakout tries to wing Viliami Fine proving the difference between the two teams.
An indifferent display from the Harbour forward pack and an errorridden performance from a ZingariRichmond team only able to secure two of the three Ps of rugby, possession and position, but lacking in the ability to finish off with pace. Harbour for its part offered some assistance in the second half, when illdiscipline reduced it to 13 players. But too many unforced errors from the home team kept it adrift on the scoreboard.
Highlander Marty Banks played a key role in a number of breakout movements from fullback for ZingariRichmond, while its tight five had the wood on Harbour at scrum time, but its lineout proved a lottery with the Harbour locking duo of Jack Kiely and Taylor Dale securing a wealth of clean ball. Harbour rake Austin Atiga proved a powerhouse around the fringes and his lineout throws were made to order.
Harbour inside backs Nathan Hastie and Obey Samate offered plenty of opportunity to a closely marked midfield, while out wide Fine remained a constant threat.