NZ Club Rugby 2022 ( General)
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My club Te Rapa hosted Taupiri. A couple of losses but the top team is improving. Bev's Broadcasting was there so it was good for out of towners to get to watch the team and get we get to see a highlights package too. Us old boys had a run around against a couple of other Presidents teams. Geez we could do with some rain in Hamilton, dust flying everywhere.
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Waikato Draught Premiership Rd 4
Hamilton Marist v Fraser Tech - Marist Park (Ron Crawford Memorial Trophy)
Melville v Hamilton Old Boys - Collins Road
Morrinsville Sports v Hautapu - Campbell Park
Te Awamutu Sports v Otorohanga - Albert Park
United Matamata Sports v University - Bedford Park -
Waikato Draught Premiership A Week 5 (Kickoff 2.45 pm)
Fraser Tech are the only remaining Premiership side yet to taste defeat this season and have successfully recorded 4 bonus point victories to sit at the top of the standings with 20 points. Hamilton Marist and Te Awamutu Sports are second equal with 14 points then there is a log jam between 4th and 8th, with only 2 points separating these teams. This weekend Fraser Tech will face their first challenge this season for the Stag Trophy when they host University, this match will also be a Ron Crawford Memorial Trophy challenge as well.Fraser Tech v University - Waikato Steel Fabricators Park (Ron Crawford Memorial & Stag Trophy Challenge)
Hamilton Marist v Melville - Marist Park
Hautapu v Hamilton Old Boys - Memorial Park, Cambridge
Morrinsville Sports v Te Awamutu Sports - Campbell Park
United Matamata Sports v Otorohanga - Bedford Park -
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@Stargazer said in NZ Club Rugby 2022 ( General):
Btw, have you seen Smiler Ah Kiong play, this season? How is he going?
I did mention to you that he played well at fullback in the game I watched 2 weeks ago. That was the same game that Gideon Wrampling re-injured himself. Smiler-Ah Kiong is back at 1st 5 this week as TA Sports are missing a lot of players involved in the U20 tournament (4 with the Chiefs and 2 with the Barbarians).
One of the reasons I went to watch TA Sports was because of the large number of recent school leavers in their team. Apart from your Hastings BHS players, there are at least 8 from Hamilton BHS and 5 or so from St Paul's. So it's a very young team.
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Waikato Draught Premiership A Week 6 (Kickoff 2.45 pm)
Fraser Tech continue to lead the Premiership division and remain undefeated plus the holders of the Ron Crawford Memorial Trophy and Stag Trophy after another successful defense last weekend. This week they travel across the road to defend the Ron Crawford Memorial Trophy against challengers, Hamilton Old Boys. Another interesting matchup this weekend sees 2nd equal Hamilton Marist and Te Awamutu Sports vying for outright 2nd at Albert Park.Hamilton Old Boys v Fraser Tech - Fred Jones Park (Ron Crawford Memorial Challenge)
Melville v United Matamata Sports - Collins Road
Otorohanga v Morrinsville Sports - Island Reserve
Te Awamutu Sports v Hamilton Marist - Albert Park
University v Hautapu - Waikato University -
Dylan Cleaver went to the top-of-the-table North Shore vs Takapuna game:
Instead of suffering through the anticlimactic final round I took up the invitation to check out a fierce local club rugby rivalry that also happened to be a top of the table clash between unbeaten Takapuna and North Shore, the plutocrats of Harbour rugby.
The first thing that struck me was the crowd, which might have looked bigger than it was in the picturesque confines of Devonport but nevertheless there was a better atmosphere there than any Harbour game I’ve attended recently.
The game itself wasn’t great. Takapuna, who won 31-17, got a stranglehold early and despite being pinned in their own 22m for long periods of the second half, never looked like relinquishing the win.
But there was one moment in the first half I wish I recorded and saved to my cloud (I don’t actually know what that means but I’ve heard other people say it), pulling it back down again to screen on special occasions, public holidays and every third Tuesday.
I was gassing to my mate at the time so missed the buildup but out of nowhere someone in the Shore backline attempted a spiral punt wipers kick.
My body was instantly flooded with the sort of nostalgia men of my age can only get from remembering your first taste of Rheineck, playing air guitar to Sweet Child O’ Mine, or reading the Elle Macpherson Bendon catalogue for the articles.
Man I miss everything about the spiral punt: the almost gentle “thwock” sound when struck well, how it drew right to left then straightened out again, how it skipped forward on greasy turf to roll into touch.
Damn you Mick Byrne and your insistence on the consistency and control of the drop punt.
My other takeaway from the domain was how a well-run, engaged club can retain its place in the heart of the community. Admittedly, North Shore has got certain demographic advantages in terms of the benefactors it can draw upon, but they have invested massively in their junior programme, especially girls rugby, so they’re changing the club from the ground up.
There was an old boys’ lunch before the game so the clubrooms were a bit of a “sausage sizzle” at the end, but on normal game times I’m reliably informed the vibe is extremely family friendly, with mums and dads having a drink inside while the kids play outside.
The reports of club rugby’s demise are not necessarily exaggerated, but if you do it right there is still hope - much like the spiral punt.
Face it, we're all to blame for Lodge's exit
Elsewhere, The Bounce goes grassroots and pines for the days of the spiral punt.
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