Taradale loosie's day of Premier rugby domination

Taradale No 8 Iakopo Mapu in another display of domination in a game in which he scored three tries in a 36-24 win over Napier Old Boys Marist. Photo / Paul Taylor.

The Hawke's Bay Premier rugby competition continued as the Taradale and Hastings road show as each extended their winning form with comfortable victories in Week 2 Maddison Trophy championship matches.

With first-week winners on both sides in their games, first-round Nash Cup winner Taradale scored five tries to four to beat Napier Old Boys Marist 36-24 at Park Island's Tremain Field in Napier, while Hastings R&S, out to retain the championship's Maddison Trophy it won in 2020, travelled to Farndon Park to score seven tries in beating home side Clive 47-7.

There was a particularly big game for everywhere man and Samoan international Iakopo Mapu, who scored three tries for Taradale, which led from when he scored the game's opening try after seven minutes to the end.

The 23-year-old Mapu and midfield back and fellow 2021 Hawke's Bay Magpies hopeful Kienan Higgins, who also graced the scoresheet, each have eight tries, eight matches into the season.

The result cost Napier OBM the HBRU Challenge Shield, the competition's equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield and held by OBM in a sequence of more than 40 games unbeaten in front of the home-ground faithful since mid-2016.

Mapu, running from the middle of the backline in two of his three tries, with a cheeky step or 2 and a 70m run for the last just two minutes after halftime, later rolled an ankle but stayed on, confirming it was all good at the end, after a game he said was right in line with the team's strategy for each opposition, and another step in his hopes of a second season in the Magpies' NPC squad.

Again, the bigger size of the Taradale forwards was a controlling factor, rarely evidenced more by the arrival of Lolani Faleiva, doing the one-job crash efficiently, and scoring one try through the use of his bulk, but varying once with a massive punt to clear Taradale away from a moment of defence.

Hastings R&S didn't expect anything like the 40-point triumph it had over Clive, which had itself topped 40 points in beating Napier Tech the previous weekend.

But referee Stu Catley had warned before the start scrums could be reverting to Golden Oldies rules with Clive struggling to stock the required number of front-row specialists.
But it was able proceed under normal rules, with Hastings R&S dominating in the forwards, going up 21-7 at halftime and adding 26 points unanswered in the second half, despite increasing rain which became heavy by the start of the last quarter.

The seven tries were shared among seven players, supplemented by the conversions from halfback Connor McLeod with four from four, and two from three for second five-eighths Danny Toala.

In the other two matches, in which each side had been beaten when the Maddison Trophy competition kicked-off seven days earlier, Central beat MAC 18-14 in Waipukurau, and Napier Tech Old Boys beat Tamatea 36-29 at Bill Mathewson Park, Hastings.

Central was unable to score any tries, and while going close several times relied on the boot of first five-eighths, 2019 and 2020 New Zealand secondary schools representative and new national Under-20s squad member Harry Godfrey for the points, from five penalties and a dropped goal.

He missed two penalty attempts along the way, but his dropped goal and last penalty were match-deciders, stealing the game after MAC, with the second of its two tries, had led 14-12 inside the last 10 minutes.

In a game of twisting fortunes, Tech led Tamatea 18-5 after 30 minutes but was soon down 18-19. It went up 33-19 inside the last quarter before Tamatea scored its fourth and fifth tries to guarantee a frenetic finish. Tech's Xavier McCorkindale matched Mapu's effort by also scoring three tries from No 8, while Jim Harris scored twice for Tamatea.

In next Saturday's games, the last before a day-off at Queen's Birthday weekend, the two leading sides each have home games, with Taradale playing Central and Hastings R&S playing Tamatea, while Napier OBM cross town to play Napier Tech, and MAC has a home match against Clive at Flaxmere Park.

Havelock North triumphed in a key Division 1 match against fellow relegated side Napier Pirate, winning 36-19 in what was a fitting end for the villagers' club day at Anderson Park, the club winning all 3 of its senior grades matches. Division first-round winner Maraenui had a second loss in a week, beaten 15-7 by Otane at Otane Domain.