Dan Waenga's 30th as referee of a premier Hawke's Bay club game on Saturday saw him earn his Hawke's Bay Rugby Referees Association blazer. Photo / Ian Cooper
Dan Waenga's 30th as referee of a premier Hawke's Bay club game on Saturday saw him earn his Hawke's Bay Rugby Referees Association blazer. Photo / Ian Cooper
By Thomas Airey
Defending Ray White Nash Cup and Maddison Trophy champions Taradale took a major step towards regaining their premier club rugby titles with a 60 point win over Hastings on Saturday.
The 74-14 victory at Elwood Park leaves Taradale unbeaten in two games and fourth on the table through three rounds of the Nash Cup.
Despite splitting the last two Maddison victories with Taradale, Hastings were not able to hang with their rivals on the day, conceding four tries inside 15 minutes.
Maroons No 8 Iakopo Petelo Mapu was at his blockbusting best, scoring two tries in each half for the visitors.
Taradale were up 45-0 in the 33rd minute and Hastings also lost talismanic second five-eighths Neria Foma'i to injury just prior to the break.
First five-eighths Ausage Foma'i got Hastings off the mark in the 53rd minute and the hosts managed to keep Taradale from scoring over 14 minutes of play before Mapu was in for his third and fourth tries.
Taradale No 7 Kristino Savea is tackled by his opposite number, flanker Jardine Chungching. Photo / Ian Cooper
They got their second try with 10 minutes to play but Taradale had the last laugh when substitute Ian Rore dotted down with the final act of the game.
The match was former Maroons player Dan Waenga's 30th as referee of a Hawke's Bay premier grade game, earning him his Hawke's Bay Rugby Referees Association blazer.
Waenga, who also earned a blazer for Hawke's Bay Magpies appearances back in his playing days, refereed his first Super Rugby Pacific match last month.
The defending champions have a game in hand after last week's bye while Napier Technical Old Boys lead the Nash Cup following their 33-26 win over Napier Old Boys Marist at Tremain Field - a third straight bonus point victory.
A matchwinner for Marist last weekend, fullback Paoraian Manuel-Harman opened the scoring with a 28th minute try but Tech hit back with two of their own to lead 14-5 at halftime.
There were a couple more lead changes in the second half and Marist had a five point buffer on the hour mark before Tech ran over the top of them late.
Havelock North are also undefeated following a 67-17 win over Clive at Anderson Park.
Clive scored all their points in the first half to trail by 21 at the break.
The Villagers shut them out in the second period, adding five tries to the six they managed before halftime of another strong display.
MAC secured their first win of the season, beating Tamatea 34-33 at Bill Mathewson Park.
It was 19-all at halftime before MAC scored three unconverted tries over the first 30 minutes of the second half.
Two successive yellow cards for halfback John Ika for a high shot then a tip tackle meant they played the final quarter of the game down a man and Tamatea came home strong.
Their two converted tries were not enough to steal the win at the death, however.
Aotea avoided defeat for the first time this year, fighting for an 18-all draw against Central in Waipukurau.
They scored a try either side of halftime to lead by 15 points until the 49th minute when Central fullback Zaccheaus Simpson sliced through untouched from 40 metres out to score.
Once the hosts levelled the scores both teams had their chances to win in the final ten minutes but couldn't convert.
