Rugby: Marist coach irate after late lapse

Old Boys Marist fullback Bram Egli breaks through the Otamatea defence during the Bayleys Southern Districts Premier competition at Okara on Saturday. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Despite an almost faultless game for most of the match, Old Boys Marist coach Greg Shipton was fuming over his side leaking five tries against a hapless Otamatea side in the final quarter.

By halftime hosts Old Boys Marist had raced to a 37-0 lead and the second spell - or the first quarter at least - started with just as much promise for the Whangarei side in the Bayleys Southern Districts Premier competition at Okara on Saturday.

The hosts won 75-35. Their first points came via the boot of first-five Peter Breen just eight minutes in after Otamatea players were penalised in their 22m line for offside play.

Minutes later, Breen nailed another penalty and wing Monty Lama scored the first try in the 20th minute on the left flank after dummying Otamatea fullback Hyland.

Breen was instrumental in setting up that try after splitting open the Otamatea defence down the inside channel. From the restart, he again broke free through the midfield but prop Howard Sililoto knocked the ball midway in the Otamatea half.

Sililoto made up for his earlier error by scoring his team's second try in the 25th minute after barging through multiple defenders. He combined well with hooker Troy Cullen, whose agility and speed up front were a delight to watch.

The hosts would have scored their third had Lama not spilled the ball while trying to clear from a ruck 15m from the Otamatea tryline.

In the 38th minute, Lama scored under the post after multiple phases of pick-and-go which had been the hallmark of Old Boys Marist.

The try preceded a brilliant run on the left flank by No8 Taniela Manu but he was brought down metres from the Otamatea tryline.

The visitors couldn't gain traction on the face of stubborn opposition defence coupled with woeful set-piece play. Yet, they turned down kickable penalties in favour of either lineouts or quick taps which often didn't yield the desired results.

Old Boys Marist's other try-scorers were first-five Matt Marwick, props Sililoto and Sione Kite, Lama, and fullback Bram Egli.

For Otamatea, flanker Kainga Pesaliti, wing Solomon Alaimalo and No10 Mona Paraki got on the scoresheet.

Otamatea coach Peter Robinson said the big score reflected a lack of players at training and failure to nail set-piece play.

"But we got tries in the dying stages and managed to get bonus point which will be critical in the later stages. We'll just have to keep working on it and try and get a win against Hikurangi next week," he said.

Shipton was disappointed they leaked tries in the dying stages: "We played well until the last quarter where we let ourselves down."