Northland rugby: Hora Hora win to kick off their centenary celebration in style

Hora Hora hooker Lanitalo Latu charges upfield in the opening round of Tyrepower premier club rugby against Moerewa. Photo / Tania Whyte

Hora Hora could not have asked for a better start to their centenary celebration than a win at home for their teams in the opening round of the Tyrepower Northland club rugby over the weekend.

The Premier side came away with a gritty 36-20 victory over a plucky Moerewa outfit while the Hora Hora Premier Reserves also won, 39-17, over the same opponents to set the scene for their 100-year celebration this year.

Hora Hora looked happier as they were surrounded by the familiar on Saturday but the scoreline isn't a true reflection of how the game was played. The hosts certainly didn't stampede and bulldoze their way to victory.

Moerewa were up for it for the most part, except on occasions in the first spell when poor defence netted Hora Hora three tries to take a handy 22-10 lead at halftime.

The game itself wasn't a classic as too many stoppages due to infringements and handling errors thwarted opportunities for both sides to build decent momentum, although that was expected, given it was the inaugural round of the season.

Led by their talisman Dan Hawkins, the Hora Hora and Northland first five probed the Moerewa defence and linked up well with blockbusting centre Reece Le Vavasour, who was a menace in the midfield.

Moerewa lock Tu'ukalikali Vaipulu secures the ball at the lineout. Photo / Tania Whyte

A damaging ball runner, Le Vavasour is renowned for his physicality but there was guile and craft to his running game and it showed when he gathered a Hawkins' chip kick and powered his way 50 metres to score in the corner.

Moerewa opened the scores with a penalty from right in front in just the third minute of play after referee Boris Jurlina warned Hora Hora about repeated infringements at the breakdown.

The hosts levelled the scores not long after before lock Tiaki Smith touched down for the first try. Moerewa's poor first-up tackles on the blindside allowed Hora Hora to break free from their 22m line and Smith raced 50m to score.

On occasions, Moerewa looked as if they didn't have the maturity or composure to sustain what they started and looked a bit rattled and frazzled. But the visitors came away with some well-worked tries and never gave up on their ambition and relentless desire to keep the ball moving and hunt for space.

Hora Hora skipper Jaycob Matiu was happy with the win, saying his side were lucky to have had the backs to finish off well-worked moves.

"They showed it was a perfect day to play that long, running rugby and we had the wind in the first half and they used it. In the second half, we needed the ball to build phases and we did that for a short period and then fell off. It's a work-on for us."

For Moerewa captain Aorangi Stokes, it was not the result his team wanted and they rued being unable to hang on to the ball for long.

"The biggest thing for us is we lost too many of the contacts. Having said that, we've got quite a developing side going forward, we're still a fairly new club but nevertheless, we want to be up there and match it with the best and Hora Hora has been there and done that.

"For us, it's to learn and keep moving forward, get back to the drawing board and turn up on Tuesdays and Thursdays and get the mahi done. If we had the ability to match it with Hora Hora, then we would have got ourselves an opportunity."

Hora Hora halfback Wayne Herbert gets the backline moving in his team's win over Moerewa. Photo / Tania Whyte

Trailing at halftime, Stokes said the message was to simplify their game in the second spell.

"I think we complicated things too often. You've got a good pack, you've got good backs, all you need to do is go forward and wide and I don't think we ever really earned that right.

"We struggled at set-piece play and it all comes down to a bit of fitness. Hora Hora showed they were a lot smarter at lineout and we were not selecting the right options. It's all learnings for us."

In the other premier matches played on Saturday, defending champions Western Sharks were held to a 19-all draw by Wellsford, Kerikeri pipped Hikurangi 10-7, Waipu took Kamo to the wire before narrowly losing 25-24 and last year's losing finalists, Mid Northern, won over Old Boys Marist 38-22.

Big scores were chalked up in the Premier Reserves matches that preceded the premier games.

Kerikeri walloped Hikurangi 41-5, Waipū thrashed Kamo 31-5, Hora Hora got the job done with a 39-17 victory over Moerewa, OBM edged hosts Mid Northern 21-20 and the Western Sharks had the measure of Wellsford, winning 25-12.