2023 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby
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SOme bright news from Park Island with the DEvelopment side looking like they would wallop Taranaki but in the end settled for a 49 - 38 win with a very late try widening the margin that had stood at HB 42 - 38 Taranaki with twelve minutes left and Taranaki on the ascendency.
That doesn't tell the full story however as my guys galloped out to a 28 - 14 lead at halftime and by the 50th minute were out by 42 - 19 and looking good. The visitors upped their game a bit and mostly held the upper hand from then on.
There were some nice tries scored by both sides none more so thaqnthe aforesaid one that took the scoreline to 42 - 19 where it was beautifully created from within the Bay's own 22 and some surging runs firstly down the right hand side then through centrefield and then on the left wing created pressure near the 'Naki line where some excellent forward hitups and swinging the ball wide from side to side eventually led to a lovely try to what looked like Xavier McCorkindale wearing the number 8 jersey, one of what I think were two tries he scored. Our reserve Number 8 (can't remember his name but he plays No 8 for Taradale) also finished off some good forward play with a typical driving/smashing through try to seal the match for the Bay. McCorkindale also made the telling burst that led to Manaki Aranui, the starting hooker, shooting trough after receiving a perfectly timed pass for another nice try. There were plently of players that went well in the home team particularly the left winger who was always dangerous whenever he got his mitts on the ball. There seemed to be a good number of guys I could not confidently put a name to so assume most od those were guys out of the Academy. There was one fairly tall lock who made a good pairing with another shorter but more bulky and powerful looking bloke. Thought I saw this later guy being put through his paces during the warmups for the Magpies on Wednesday night so that must have been for the trainers to see how he was going as he looked to be favouring his right leg during that time.
All in all an enjoyable time spent watching level of players all striving to move upward on the rugby ladder,, none more so than the Higgins guy running in midfield who had some nice touches to his play. Kind of like a poor mans version of Conrad Smith in a nice manner of speaking, nothing flashy but did the right things at the right time. The little japanese halfback started promisingly but learnt early on not to take a quick tap penalty when the opposition reincarnation of Grizzly Adams/Bear Grills was only a couple of metres in front him. Needless to say he stopped rather quickly when the collision happened and spent a fair bit of time going through the HIA process before resuming play, albeit with what looked to be a reshaped nose. Next weeks game is supposed to be against the 'Poo once again at home but we await confirmation of opponent, venue and time.
Finally I leave @Stargazer with the news that Liam Udy-Johns got in a good 20 minutes or so to finish the game off so all is not lost there. -
@Higgins My sincere apologies, but I forgot to get my tippings in. Do you have enough tippers for the HB team this weekend, or should I still put my tips in for the last few games?
Edited to add that - just to be sure - I've still put my tips in, knowing that I won't earn points for game already played or started.
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@Stargazer No, you can still stick them in as you still pick up points for the games you tip. However KP might deem you to be too late given there are only three games still left. You do however get the default points of five less than the lowest scorer and there are a few still in single figures at this stage but have the luxury of an almost certain ten pointer from the Canterbury v 'Poo game. You might be able to scramble enough points from the remaining games to top the otherwise lowest scorer but you'd have too be very accurate. In terms of the HB team luckily we had five tip prior to the first game so we are covered there but if anyone of us has a stinker we don't have the benefit of dropping our worst score when calculating the team's score (five of the six count).
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@Higgins said in 2023 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby:
Our reserve Number 8 (can't remember his name but he plays No 8 for Taradale)
Iakopo Mapu?
@Higgins said in 2023 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby:
There was one fairly tall lock who made a good pairing with another shorter but more bulky and powerful looking bloke. Thought I saw this later guy being put through his paces during the warmups for the Magpies on Wednesday night so that must have been for the trainers to see how he was going as he looked to be favouring his right leg during that time.
No idea who you're talking about. Tiaki Fabish is one of the Magpies locks who hasn't played yet.
If he was blond, it could be Matt Monaghan? Or was that the taller player?
@Higgins said in 2023 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby:
Liam Udy-Johns got in a good 20 minutes or so to finish the game off so all is not lost there.
Good to hear!
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Rep rugby Saturday 26 August 2023:
• Hawke's Bay U19 v Manawatū U19 - 1.00pm at Tremain Field #1, Napier
• Hawke's Bay Development v Manawatū Evergreens - 1.00pm at Tremain Field #2, Napier
• Te Matau a Māui (Hawke's Bay Māori) v Te Upoko o te Ika (Wellington Māori) - 2.30pm at Rugby Park, Dannevirke
• Waikato U16 girls v Hawke's Bay U16 girls - 1.00pm at Owen Delany Park, TaupōSo the games overlap with the Tui (12.05pm) and Magpies (2.05pm) games.
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@Stargazer said in 2023 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby:
Rep rugby Saturday 26 August 2023:
• Te Matau a Māui (Hawke's Bay Māori) v Te Upoko o te Ika (Wellington Māori) - 2.30pm at Rugby Park, Dannevirke
This game has been cancelled due to Wellington Māori withdrawing due to lack of players/injuries.
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@stargazer THS could mean either Tamatea High School or Taradale High School for people like me that have no idea of the schoolgirls rugby participants in HB.
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@Stargazer said in 2023 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby:
@Stargazer said in 2023 Hawke's Bay Representative Rugby:
Rep rugby Saturday 26 August 2023:
• Te Matau a Māui (Hawke's Bay Māori) v Te Upoko o te Ika (Wellington Māori) - 2.30pm at Rugby Park, Dannevirke
This game has been cancelled due to Wellington Māori withdrawing due to lack of players/injuries.
Bugger me days, hard to imagine how Wellington could not rustle up 20 players to make up a team. They only have their Lions and the Centurions (aka Development squad) playing this weekend so their resources are not under huge stress. Maybe there just aren't that many Maori qualified players running around in cub rugby down there these days. I went out to Farndon Park last season to watch HB Maori v HB Samoa on the same weekend when both the provinces top two sides also had games which syphoned off a lot of Samoan and Maori players so it shows that it can be done.
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First the good news from Park Island and then I will get round to giving my impression a bit later.
Hawkes Bay Development 75 - 17 Manawatu Development
Hawkes Bay Under 19s 43 - 00 Manawatu Under 19s
The Under 19 score might have been 45 - 00 but I forgot to watch the conversion attempt for the last try. Also a disclaimer that I was over the other side of the park watching the Develpoment game but keeping an eye on what was happening on Number 2 so might have missed some scoring movements.
