League: Swords suffer heavy defeat

Nothing could help the Northern Swords as they were put to the sword by competition heavyweights Counties Manukau in the fifth round of the Pirtek National Premiership.

The Stingrays were far too good for the Swords, beating them by a massive 88-0 at Mt Smart Stadium.

The Stingrays scored first but to their credit the Swords then managed a period of sustained attack. Unfortunately they simply weren't able to convert possession into points.

As so often happens in league, a failure to score after such a period can quickly turn against a team, and so it was for the Swords with the Stingrays scoring back-to-back tries and then going on to lead 36-0 at half time.

After the break things didn't improve for the Swords, and before long it was all one-way traffic with the Stingrays scoring tries up the middle and on the edges for a crushing win.

A number of Stingrays players impressed while young Jayden Bentley-Hape made the most of his time in the televised match by making some good metres for the Swords with the ball.

In other matches over the weekend, the South Island Scorpions beat the Wellington Orcas 52-16, while the Waicoa Bays Stallions ran out 42-12 winners over the Central Vipers.

In the under-17s, the Swords at least managed a try against the Stingrays going down 6-66, while the Orcas beat the Scorpions 50-28 and Waicoa Bay beat the Vipers 42-24.

In the under-15s, the Swords were impressive against the Stingrays going down 10-44. The Scorpions sneaked home against the Orcas 33-32, while the Vipers beat Waicoa Bay 24-20.

Round 5

Premiership: South Island Scorpions 52, Wellington Orcas 16; Waicoa Bays Stallions 42, Central Vipers 12.

17s: South Island Scorpions 28, Wellington Orcas 50; Waicoa Bays Colts 42, Central Vipers 24; Northern Swords 6, Counties Manukau Stingrays 66.

15s: South Island Scorpions 33, Wellington Orcas 32; Waicoa Bays Colts 20, Central Vipers 24.