Wellington U-18s beaten
RUGBY
WELLINGTON were beaten by Hawke’s Bay in the final of the Hurricanes under-18 tournament in Palmerston North last weekend.
Wellington had beaten Hawke’s Bay 31-20 in pool play but a stronger Hawke’s Bay side reversed the result in the final, winning 24-11 after leading 21-6 at halftime.
‘‘We have had a bit of an up and down season,’’ Wellington co-coach Tim Mannix said. ‘‘We have played some good running rugby but Saturday wasn’t one of our good days.’’
Wellington did not use their New Zealand schools players Leni Apisai and Wes Goosen and NZ Barbarians representative Malo Tuitama missed the tournament through injury.
A number of club players were in the forward pack but Wellington College skipper James Blackwell, who QUEEN Margaret underwater hockey player Saskia van der Wilt was omit- played at lock, made an impression. ‘‘He was one of our most consistent players,’’ Mannix said. ‘‘He’s just so accurate.’’
Loose forward Peter Pili (Porirua College) and prop Joel Hintz (St Pat’s Silverstream) also made a mark while TJ Va’a (Scots) impressed as the starting halfback and Luke Coulston (Silverstream) did well at halfback when coming off the bench.
No 8 Nese Solia (Silverstream) was named player of the tournament after Wellington won the Hurricanes under-16 tournament, beating Hawke’s Bay 35-10 in the final.
Solia and six team-mates – Alex Fidow (Scots), Asafo Aumua (Silverstream), Jarimar Schuster (Silverstream), Kemara Hauiti-Parapara (Wellington College), Lester Maulolo (Silverstream) and Brandon Mudzekenyezdi (Heretaunga College) – were selected for the under-16 tournament team. ted from the list of Wellington players who made the junior tournament team at the national secondary schools championships this month.