Eketahuna loosies take control

Perri Tatana-Williams, Hera Edwards and Raylene Reiri were outstanding for Eketahuna, tackling strongly and competing aggressively for ball on the ground.

Cross Country Rentals Eketahuna had to come from behind to beat Oriental-Rongotai-Miramar 45-35 in their Wellington premier division women's rugby match in Wellington on Saturday.

Ories started strongly to put first points on the board with an early try and they moved out to a handy lead before Eketahuna hit their straps and slowly but surely took control. It was in the tighter aspects of the forward game where the bigger Ories pack made life difficult for Eketahuna but it was a different story in the loose. There Perri Tatana-Williams, Hera Edwards and Raylene Reiri were outstanding for Eketahuna, tackling strongly and competing aggressively for ball on the ground.

With Rebecca Mahoney and Maia Tua-Davison missing, Eketahuna relied hugely on another of their Black Ferns in Shakira Baker to provide the spark in their backline and she rose to the challenge, making several telling breaks.

Meanwhile, Ruamahanga Colts scored their second successive win in the Manawatu colts rugby competition when they beat Feilding 18-10 at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.

In what was a hard-fought match watched by a good-sized crowd, Ruamahanga's platform for victory was laid by the forwards who won enough quality possession for their talented backline to shine.

Making the Ruamahanga performance more meritorious was the fact that a raft of injuries meant a number of players had to swap positions and they responded well to that challenge.

Andre Kauika and Cody Thomson scored the Ruamahanga tries with Manahi Fox kicking one penalty and one conversion and Sean Robinson one penalty. Ruamahanga play Linton IPC away this Saturday.