Kiwi earn early favouritism – Round 2 – 2014
by Tui Bromley – greystar.co.nz
Kiwi confirmed their favouritism for the West Coast Rugby Union New Forrest Cup competition on Saturday with a 39-21 victory over a powerful Grey Valley team, at Walker Park, Hokitika. In the other game on Saturday, Blaketown bounced back from a 54-10 humbling at the hands of Kiwi last week, to thrash Wests 64-0.
Kiwi’s superior fitness told over Grey Valley, with three late length-of-the-field tries to give the blues a flattering 18-point winning margin. Kiwi had edged ahead with a try right on half-time but Grey Valley scored just after the break and added a penalty to lead 21-12 midway through the second spell. However, the visitors had no answer to Kiwi’s late flourish. Centre, Brent McBride, and flanker Ian Kearns were Kiwi’s players of the day, but player-coach Dan Tauwhare said the other flanker, Fayne Wilson, and backs Sean McLure and Daniel Bishop (three tries) were equally impressive.
Grey Valley player-coach Tere Wycliffe said his team had been caught napping when the blues took tap penalties and ran the ball from deep in their half. “We went to sleep late in the game and that cost us,” Wycliffe said. Wycliffe, who played second-five because of a dearth of backs, said flanker Dave Crouchley and first-five Tim Priest stood out.
Meanwhile, Blaketown cast off the shackles of last week’s big loss with a 10-try rout of Wests to suggest that their performance against Kiwi may have been an aberation.
Centre Phil Thomson scored twice and added seven conversions for a personal haul of 24 points. Manager, Gavin Davy said that Alan Monk was main player of the day with Brogan Watt and Phill Thomson also being recognised. Others to play well were Nik Davy, Kevin Curtis and Robertt Thomson. “Our young and inexperienced players also stood up and performed well.
The Marist rugby team scored a deserved but fortuitous 17-16 victory over South Westland, at Karoro, on Saturday, to remain unbeaten in the New Forrest Cup competition. Just two tries were scored and they both came in the last five minutes of the match.
The result was fortuitous because the greens led 12-6 at the break and appeared to be cruising to victory, but a 10-2 second-half penalty count in South Westland’s favour (17-6 overall) kept Marist pinned down until a converted try put the visitors in front 16-12 with just three minutes to play. Stunned into action, Marist attacked from the resulting kick off and somehow conjured up the match-winning try. Had the greens lost, their best player in all facets of the game except passing flanker Sam Tau would have been to blame. Tau ruined an otherwise powerful performance by his flat refusal to pass. He created, and then butchered, two certain tries in the first spell and did his best to ruin the last chance, too, ignoring three unmarked men outside him while trying to run over the top of the last defender.
Fortunately for Tau and, his team, the ball squirted free for Melali Mudu to transfer to Jayden Menzies for the winning try.
Marist first-five Nathan Smith and South Westland fullback Cory Deans traded early penalties and Smith had added three more to Deans’s one by the break.
The second half was a procession of penalties, scrums and lineouts. Deans kicked one penalty and had two unsuccessful shots at goal before South Westland, with time fast running out, decided to kick for touch and go for a try. The tactic worked when a 14-man rumbling maul – all but one of the backs had joined in – got Nathan Wilson over the Marist line for a try, which Deans converted from the sideline to put his team in front for the first time in the match.
However, the lead was short-lived, Menzies scoring within a minute or two to give the greens the match. Prop Rob Wilson and flanker Ben Williams earned man of the match awards in the South Westland pack, while Deans was the pick of the backline, along with halfback Kip Nolan, who shared a 10-minute spell in the sin-bin with Marist No 8 Ben Campbell after a brief altercation. Campbell and Tau had powerful games in the green pack while Smith, centre Josh Costello and fullback Mudu impressed in the backs.
Scorers:
Blaketown 64 (B Houston, K Curtis, B Watt, P Thomson, N Davy 2, R Thomson 2, A Monk 2, tries; P Thomson 7 cons)
Wests 0.
Kiwi 39 (D Bishop 3, M Brown, P Te Rakau, S McClure tries, McLure 2 cons, pen; D Tauwhare con)
Grey Valley 21 (D Crouchley, T Priest tries; Priest 3 pens, con).
Marist 17 (J Menzies try, N Smith 4 pens)
South Westland 16 (N Wilson try, C Deans con, 3 pens).