Club rugby season about to kick off
Sub-unions will only regenerate if the Northland Rugby Union says so, and it is not interested as long as the Whanga¯ rei competition is thriving. What we have now is a parent body that hasn’t a clue about this competition. Years ago a North Auckland side was selected from subunion matches. The provincial side had huge successes, because you had the best players competing at senior and junior levels.
So how are the Mangonui clubs looking this season? “Eastern is getting good numbers, and we had a good tussle in a pre-season game against Kerikeri,” coach Dave Jurlina said.
Awanui will be as strong as ever, even though numbers at training are short. Coach Pops Arona is confident that his side will be very competitive.
Last year’s champions, Te Rarawa, under coach Thomas Rogers, are looking good. The boys are keen, with a good squad turning up at training. Kaitaia is looking strong too, under coaches Brett Tracey and Joseph Pomare. With lights up at Arnold Rae
Park, the club is keen to have night matches. The club competition starts on Saturday, April 10.
No place for losers
When you fail in sport in Australia you get the bullet. It happened on Sunday to New Zealander Rob Penney, coach of the NSW Waratahs, after they were thrashed by the Queensland Reds 14-46. Penney’s three-year contract, which lasted less than two years, was terminated immediately.
The Waratahs are sitting at the bottom of the Aussie Super Rugby table, but it is reported that Penney is very disappointed that he hasn’t been given the full opportunity to fight with the squad he has.
Meanwhile the Chiefs’ brilliant lastminute try, by utility back Damien McKenzie, for a 15-12 win over the Blues on Saturday now has the Auckland side fighting to make the
Super Rugby Aotearoa play-offs.
The Blues were their own worst enemies. In a tight match they turned down at least five opportunities to kick at goal. More concerning, their forward pack was out-muscled. As coach Leon McDonald said, “We like to play a lot better than we did”.
They face the Hurricanes, who were impressive in their strong win over the Highlanders, on Saturday.
And that’s how Mate sees it.