2023 Hawke's Bay Club Rugby
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Scorers:
Premier – Maddison Trophy
Taradale 22 (Andrew Gardner, Flynn Allen, Iakopo Mapu tries; Trinity Spooner-Neera penalty, 2 conversions)
Napier Tech Old Boys 17 (Liam Udy-Johns, Falealii (Gibson) Popoalii tries; Sheridan Rangihuna penalty, 2 conversions).Central 30 (Trei Nepe-Apatu, Siosiua Kaifa, Sam Cavanagh, Jeri Kavekai tries; Jordan Soli 2 penalties, 2 conversions)
Napier Old Boys Marist 20 (Duff Penitito, Jonty Stewart tries; Bain Champion 2 penalties, conversion; Jonty Stewart conversion).Hastings Rugby and Sport 38 (Oscar Sowman 2, Vikta Tevita, Danya Tulou, Neria Fomai, Ausage Fomai tries; Danny Toala 4 conversions)
MAC 19Points” Taradale 14, Central 12, Napier Tech OB 9, Napier OBM 7, Hastings R&S 7, MAC 2.
Division 1 – Hepa Paewai Memorial Trophy
Havelock North 34 (Samuel Smith, Oliver Tomalin, Alex Philip, Teihana Brown, Epeli Tanadroga tries; Tawhiri Gifford-Kara penalty, 3 conversions)
Clive 16 (penalty try; Jayden Falcon 3 penalties).Napier Pirate 37 (Noa Laisenia 2, Pomare Samupo, Tione Hubbard, Lincoln-Blake Bowman trophies; TipeneMaxwell 2 penalties, 3 conversions)
Aotea 10 (Trent Conway try; Hoera Stephenson penalty, conversion).
Taradale take lead in race for third Maddison Trophy title
Prolific try-scoring loosie Iakopo Mapu scored the match-winner in a 22-17 thriller.
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As an Altherm Tech supporter it was certainly disappointing at Whitmore Park on Saturday. Taradale rolled out a physically large starting side and even when they ran on their replacements they were just as big, and in some cases even larger than those being replaced. I only arrived about midway through the first half after my Metro Direct Colts side had a somewhat unspectacular outing against Clive at Farndon Park and the score had just become 3 all after Taradale had kicked a penalty.
Not long after that debutant fullback Sam Wilkins made a scintillating break through midfield from inside his own 22 before the ball eventually made it to the inform Liam Udy-Johns and it had me rubbing my hands together with glee as it looked all over a certain try until some Taradale brute pulled off a damned inconsiderate tackle to somehow snuff out the danger. After a bit of kicking the stantions holding the crowd control ropes in disappointment, I thought ah well that's ok as Taradale had had the benefit of a reasonable breeze behind them so I settled in for a big Texan second half points scoring display with the benefit of the decent breeze. Alas it was not to be with Taradale having a large territorial advantage and probably about a possession lead of something like 60% - 40%.
The second half was very close as well, at least on the scoreboard which read 17 all with not much time left. Tech on the back foot but defending stoutly, whilst also throwing in some exiting attacking runs through the backs from time to time. Taradale eventually coughed up possession near the Tech line (think it might have been a knock on) so phew Higgins breathed a sigh of relief, that was until I refocused and saw the ball sitting in the back of the Taradale scrum. That sigh of relief became a grumble of curses under my breath once their strong and powerful number 8 picked it up and despite looking away trying to pretend it might not happen, the referee awarded the try. The conversion missed so we were still in with a chance, albeit not being able to rely on a penalty to get my guys out of the poop.
The Texans did threaten a couple of times but things went wrong at the wrong time and the ball did not bounce kindly for the home side allowing Taradale to get way back down into our 22, and that's where they stayed, playing a Canterbury style of play where they were never going to let my guys get within a sniff of regaining possession. Then with time all but up another penalty was awarded to the visitors but thanks to my magical hexing powers being called upon to protect the close loss bonus point I was able to persuade the normally reliable kicker to put the ball to the right of the posts and into the hands of my guys. A quick shuffle out wide to the left hand side found a big space and the Texans were in with a chance but still 95 metres away. Somehow or other the chairman of the Taradale Hexing Committee then pulled off a masterstroke and we were left dispairing at the unfathomable sight of the ball lying on the ground and it was all over just as we were about to celebrate a possible runaway try.
Can't really say Taradale were not worthy winners as they were but any loss is still hard to take, especially at home as it also resulted in the surrender of the HB Challenge Shield that had been so gloriously taken from Napier Old Boys earlier in the season.
Some of the Tech guys continued to press for inclusion in the HB Magpies NPC team, none more so than Liam Udy-Johns who must surely have done enough by now to earn his spot ahead of that guy that came up from Wellington last year and was included without exactly setting the world on fire. Udy-Johns is not the only Texan in with a better than even chance of Magpie selection with a couple or three others in with a real good chance of making it in through club rugby performances. Still, as we have seen in the past selectors can sometimes be looking for other things and obvious candidates get overlooked. Hopefully it won't happen in this case.
Next week the Altherm Texans are at home to @Stockcar86 's Napier Old Boys mob, the winner of which will go a long way toward securing their spot in the semi-finals. Sadly it is not being livestream so, being in Wellington again for a period, I will not be available to give my somewhat Napier Tech centered viewpoint of what happens.
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@Higgins Interesting to see on the team list that former Magpie Billy Ropiha is back in the Bay and playing for Taradale. He came off the bench. I can't remember seeing his name on team lists earlier in the season, so I assume he's just returned from France?
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I see that the HBRU hasn't just split Division 2, but also Division 3 for the second round of club rugby.
Clive, Maraenui, Pirates and Taradale are in Div 3.
Havelock North, Flaxmere, Tamatea and NOBM in Div 3A.It would be really nice if the HBRU and also the media would give a clear overview of the club competition format each year, because it keeps on changing.
I also noticed that the women's competition has only one round, this year. With the women's competition being really small with so few teams participating, I'm not sure how they have a good preparation for the FPC, especially because there's such a gap between the last club game and the first FPC game.
Also the Premiers Reserve winners NOBM weren't eligible to be promoted to Div 1 Hepa Paewai Memorial Trophy, I assume because they already have a Premiers team in the Maddision Trophy competition, but also Otane (the runners up in the Town/Country grade) chose not to be promoted to Div 1 Hepa Paewai Memorial Trophy. I found part of that info in one little sentence in an HBT article, which said nothing about the consequences of Otane's decision.
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@Stargazer Is that guy at reserve hooker for Aotea the same guy that came up from Wellington a few years back and played for Napier Old Boys, generally at No. 8?
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@Stargazer Oh dear, no Mr. Popoali'i nor TBW for my guys this week but a very strong forwards bench listed. Will be somewhat nervously awaiting the final result whilst taking in a game at either Kilbirnie or Hataitai Parks in Wellington. Will be very disappointed to receive a call from @Stockcar86 at about 4.30pm as that could only possibly mean one thing!
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@Higgins I doubt it. I don't know who he is but google tells me he already played for our U19 team (as a prop) at the Jock Hobbs Tournament in 2017 (same team as Pouri Rakete-Stones, Tim Farrell, Jacob Devery, Will Tremain etc). He played for our Academy team in 2021.
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@Higgins Sorry mate - I am confined to the house today. I'm running the HB Open table tennis champs next weekend, and need to get the draws made and published by 5pm today, so sitting in the warmth of my living room, not in the cold wet of Whitmore Park. The ground is going to be mud (all school rugby has been called off after 10 days of rain), so I am not expecting a high score. My call is red devils by 8
