TA Sports storm into top four
Shiefs signing Wrampling makes his debut for club
Te Awamutu Sports showed patience, control and a lethal counter-attack, launching themselves into the Waikato Premier Rugby top four with a 31-12 win over University on Saturday.
Tries to Logan Karl, Tony Bennett, Stuart Leach, Cody Nordstrom and a penalty try, plus two Karl conversions ensured Sports took the maximum points in a hugely important clash towards the first-round standings.
Playing with a strong wind at their backs, Sports opened the scoring when Karl found an overlap down the left wing, chipped over the fullback and dotted down. The conversion from out wide was unsuccessful.
After some back-and-forward play, Sports picked up their second try when midfielder and new Chiefs squad member Gideon Wrampling, in his debut for the club, worked through a half-gap and offloaded to lock Tony Bennett who crossed, the Karl conversion extending the lead to 12-0.
University answered, pinning Sports on their line and after a yellow card for cynical play, the hosts caught Sports out with a quick tap and scored to pull the deficit back by five points, 12-5 at the break.
Sports were perhaps a little guilty of not using the wind enough, but deserved their lead and faced a tough second half into the breeze.
Keeping the ball in hand, Sports got themselves into scoring position again and another perfectly executed rolling maul had skipper Leach pick up the spoils, extending their lead to 17-5.
University hit back to make it 17-12, and the game was shaping up as another thriller when the hosts pinned Sports in their quarter with a 10-minute assault — trying to score a definitive blow — but couldn’t break an outstanding defensive line.
Sports held strong and when they finally weathered the storm and got their hands on the ball, they went straight on counter-attack, with winger Nordstrom on hand to sprint clear the last 30 metres. The try was converted by Karl for a 24-12 lead.
As University got desperate, Sports went up a gear and another breakout from Awa Morris had them pressing University hard, winning a penalty and another attacking lineout.
The subsequent drive was on track for another try when multiple infringements resulted in a penalty try to seal a very polished win, 31-12.
After two weeks of stop-start work from the backs, their combinations finally clicked and they were lethal.
The forwards laid the platform and the speed and skill was too much for the defence to handle.
Cody Nordstrom played his best game in Sports colours, picking up the man of the match award as a constant threat on the right wing.
Lock Tony Bennett was again impressive, dominating in the lineouts and was physical around the ruck, picking up his first try of the year, while replacement Awa Morris’s injection at halftime added a strong midfield spark and opened up the University backline.
MVP Points: 3 — Cody Nordstrom, 2 — Tony Bennett, 1 — Awa Morris.
The job gets tough this week when neighbours and second-spot holders O¯ torohanga come to Albert Park, Sports needing a win to keep pace with the other top four sides.
Premier Development suffer first loss but still hold top-four spot
The Premier Development side will kick themselves for a scrappy performance against University, officiating frustrations leading to a stop-start, messy game, going down 17-26 at the University of Waikato.
University got off to a fast start, scoring in the early minutes, but fullback Maoilir Hansen answered back, breaking countless tackles to score. A late penalty goal to University left the score 10-5 to the hosts at the break.
Another penalty goal to Varsity was answered with a brilliant try to winger Queyst Michael-Tapu.
Sports trailed 13-10 before another University penalty goal stretched the lead to 16-10.
Powerful winger Ishmail Shabazz found space down the left wing to help Sports to their first lead in the game, Josh Bennett slotting the conversion.
University played smart rugby with the wind at their backs and as Sports shot themselves in the foot with mistakes and penalties, scored two late tries to secure their first win of the round and hand Te Awamutu their first loss.