On blue watch, lion-hearted Nūhaka player-coach Hickson Raroa tracks the Ngātapa attempt to clear the ball during Nūhaka’s 47-0 Poverty Bay Senior semifinal win at Nūhaka Domain on Saturday. Photo / Ann Revington
On blue watch, lion-hearted Nūhaka player-coach Hickson Raroa tracks the Ngātapa attempt to clear the ball during Nūhaka’s 47-0 Poverty Bay Senior semifinal win at Nūhaka Domain on Saturday. Photo / Ann Revington
By Ann Revington and Doug Laing
History will be made when the Poverty Bay rugby finals will be played in Hawke’s Bay on Saturday – Wairoa, to be precise.
The situation has arisen with Tapuae remaining unbeaten in the Premier grade, Wairoa Athletic similarly unbeaten in the Senior grade, and Tapuae also finishing top of the table in the qualifying rounds of the Women’s grade.
The clubs are long-time Hawke’s Bay-affiliated entities with dispensation to play in the Poverty Bay competitions.
Poverty Bay Rugby Union (PBRU) chief executive Ray Noble said that with grandstand redevelopment taking place at regular finals venue Rugby Park in Gisborne, a decision was made for the top-seeded qualifiers to have the right to home finals.
Early on Monday afternoon, he announced Tapuae will play Gisborne YMP in both the Women’s and Premier Lee Brothers Trophy finals at Lambton Square, at 12.30pm and 2.30pm respectively, and Athletic will play Nūhaka in the Senior Lew Patterson Cup final at Athletic Park, starting at 1pm.
On blue watch, lion-hearted Nuhaka player-coach Hickson Raroa tracks the Ngatapa attempt to clear the ball during Nuhaka’s 47-0 Poverty Bay Senior semifinal win at Nuhaka Domain on Saturday. Photo / Ann Revington
There were separate venues on Saturday as Tapuae won their way into a Lee Brothers Shield final for the first time with a 32-10 over Te Karaka hopefuls Waikohu in one Premier semifinal, and in the Senior semifinals Athletic beat Tapuae’s second side 41-17, and Nūhaka guaranteed an all-Wairoa Lew Patterson Cup final by beating Gisborne side Ngātapa 47-0.
Tapuae’s Iowane Filimone tries to push off a Gisborne OBM player in a Poverty Bay match earlier this season. Photo / Gisborne Herald
He had spent 10 weeks on the sideline after fracturing the tibia in his left leg 65 minutes into the first-round match against YMP, but was back on the field at fullback for a pre-planned 60 minutes just in time for the business end of the season.
Leading 22-5 at halftime, Tapuae dominated in the forwards and ran some good ball to score six tries, with two each to prop Thomas Ormond and wing Kyoni Te Amo, one a runaway effort stepping at least four players on a race of over 50m to the line. The others went to lock Duran Smith, and Iowane Filimone off the bench.
Manuel-Harman said it rained heavily in the second half, but his team readjusted and it was an encouraging performance heading into what promises to be one of the biggest days in Wairoa rugby in years, and a big boost to the district amid the ongoing traumas from the February 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle and the June 26 flood.
There was big excitement at Nūhaka Domain as century-old Nūhaka signalled their own role in the surge of rugby in the storm-ravaged Wairoa communities this year.
“We have had such a good season and the majority of players returned from last season,” said team manager Elana Evans. “It is pretty much the same team from last year when we were knocked out in the semifinal stage.”
Nūhaka and Ngātapa initially looked evenly-matched, as vehicles circled the domain and rugged-up supporters had their backs to the stiff southerly, and after opening the scoring with a penalty goal to Blayze Waiari-Taylor, the home side was in charge by halftime despite facing the wind first, and the pressure on the Ngātapa defence was unrelenting.
Wing Māori Rokowiri scored two tries, one a runaway effort and the second after a great sequence of play which marked Nūhaka as a serious challenge to Athletic in their final.
Team coach Rongomai Wairau said as the score mounted: “It is all about shape at the moment. The ball is getting looked after and the ball retention is good.”
The locals were there in numbers despite the weather, and included life member Ted Whaanga, who first played for Nūhaka in 1953.
The games won’t be the end of rugby in Wairoa for the season, with the sub-union representative side set to take part in a tournament in Wellington and favoured also to retain the Barry Cup after a successful season defending the trophy in its centenary year in 2023.
