Hastings East assistant coach Mark Solomon was thrilled with manner in which his troops bounced back from the previous day's 42-12 loss to Hastings West with their 39-7 win against Central. After leading 10-0 at halftime East dominated the second half.
Substitute lock Schalk Fourie produced a player-of-the-match performance. Flanker Yuri Dempsey and hooker Max Beard also provided plenty of grunt to the East pack.
Second five-eighth Kyan Lowe, a son of former Maori All Black, Hurricanes and Magpies loosie Karl Lowe, was a lethal attacker in the East backline where first five-eighth Joel Russell and winger Calvin O'Rourke, who scored two tries, also operated well.
"We were proud of our first half. But in the second half East were too clever over the ball and they retained possession well. They had some strong runners out wide too," Central manager Ian Large said.
Captain and openside flanker Cameron Brans, who at 46kgs is 10kgs lighter than the tournament's weight limit, led his troops by example with a huge defensive workrate. Hooker Charlie Stephenson was also busy at the coalface and winger and tryscorer Caleb Watene impressed with his never-say-die approach.
Defending champions Hastings West remained on track for a second consecutive title with a shaky 12-10 win against Dannevirke.
"We were average. We gave away 22 penalties, had a high error rate and put ourselves under pressure often by making poor decisions at ruck time," West head coach Luke Rurawhe said.
"Having played three hard teams in a row showed mentally," he added.
West winger Penehuro Ta'a finished well and deserved his two tries. Halfback Tom Baines was a workaholic in all aspects of play.
Dannevirke head coach Simon Prouting said his troops produced another outstanding team performance particularly in the second half when they restricted the freedom of outstanding West pivot Monte Timu. He pointed out Dannevirke had opportunities to win but couldn't quite finish them.
"It was a wonderful performance from a stout Dannevirke side."
Captain and No 8 Angus Prouting and vice captain and hooker Manaia Hauiti were again inspirational in the Dannevirke pack. First five-eighth Ryder Crosswell was the best of the Dannevirke players.
Second five-eighth Chance Sherrard-Chase and centre R'A Tawhiao, a first-year player, also impressed in the Dannevirke backline.
"Those three backs are future stars," coach Prouting added.
Tomorrow's games will see Central host Napier from 1pm, Dannevirke take on Hastings East from 2pm and Wairoa play Hastings West from 3pm.
Scorers:
Hastings West 12 (Penehuro Ta'a 2 tries; Monte Timu con), Dannevirke 10 (Ryder Crosswell, Manaia Hauiti tries). HT: 12-5.
Hastings East 39 (Calvin O'Rourke 2, Zavier Dunn, Sovereign Staples-Tiopira, Joel Russell, Kyal Lowe, Daniel Aitken tries; Dunn 2 cons), Central 7 (Caleb Watene try; K P Reti con). HT: 10-0.
Napier 78 (Dontae Puna 2, Cleo Roderick 2, Jordan Dvorsky 2, Juan Ross, Iosefa Sa, Hunter Kinney, Tama Pohatu, Te Aotaki Edmonds, Kiane Fatu Tuifao, Cohen Batterham, Harry Campbell tries; Rico Tran 2, Richard Magele, Tyler Vette cons), Wairoa 0. HT: 32-0.
Points: Hastings West 5, Napier 5, Hastings East 4, Dannevirke 2, Central 2, Wairoa 0.
