Lineout issues weren’t helping, although the home side had an advantage in the scrum, and when Whanganui tried a tap penalty in their own half, they lost it and gave away an infringement of their own.
The Fijians tapped and spread the ball for lock Abraham Mataitini to put winger Alex Schofield over in the far corner for 12-0 at halftime.
Having the slight breeze behind them in the second stanza, Whanganui closed the gap when flanker Sevaanaia Vucinimoce went off the back of a scrum, sending the ball out to winger Peniani Waqatabu, who beat his marker and set up fullback Carliwyne Riddles to crash over in the corner.
Playing without Brook Tremayne, down in Oamaru, centre Villi Bainbure took over the goal-kicking and slotted the conversion from near touch in the 49th minute.
But play became very scrappy, both sides guilty of one-off plays without building cohesion, and that favoured the Fijians as eventually, flanker Deni Caucau was able to break through one tackle following an attacking scrum and dash under the posts, although the kick was surprisingly missed for 17-7.
It appeared the visitors had sealed it when, shortly afterwards, the Fijians moved to find an overlap and second five Caleb Alaga cantered over untouched, with fullback Ratu Valegatu taking the successful conversion without a kicking tee – just Tuinasau holding the ball still.
Finally focusing, Whanganui got a turnover after the restart and tried a cross-kick, with winger Cody Davy grabbing it on the bounce and crashing through the last defenders to score.
A tighthead scrum win in the Fijians’ corner led to a penalty, and from the tap, Bainbure dived through to close the gap to 24-17 with five minutes left.
However, hopes of snatching a draw were dashed as Whanganui made mistakes in their own half, and on the last play, the Fijians put down a grubber kick for Tuinasau to run through and swan-dive under the posts, with non-kicker Caucau slotting the conversion to the delight of team-mates.
The loss saw the Development XV finish with a 2-4 record, beating King Country Development while splitting their series with Wairarapa Bush Development 1-1, but dropping games to teams on a higher level like NZ Marist Colts, Heartland Hurricanes Under 20s and the Fijians.
Coach Danny Tamehana had hoped a longer campaign would let the squad develop some continuity, but line-ups changed regularly.
“That’s been the story of our whole campaign, is not quite being able to keep those last things in place to be able to score tries.
“But all a learning curve overall with the team that we had. Happy with it in the end.”
He had a lot of praise for players who did buy in and showed up early and regularly – like skipper Ngapuke Patea, original captain Kayden Shedlock, props Ash Tamihana and Ezekiel Anderson and a handful of others.
“I think that was probably one of the strengths of the team - there was a core group of guys there that were good leaders. They tried to keep it together.
“I think it was just a little bit of difference between different levels and the different way people approach things at this level – I think that’s the learning curve for a lot of these boys.”
Whanganui still holds the Rugby Development Officers (RDO) Shield, which has not been contested since the pre-Covid season of 2019, and Tamehana agreed perhaps arranging another small regional competition would give the Development XV season some stakes to maintain interest.
Wellington Fijians 31 (T Yandall, A Schofield, D Caucau, C Alaga, K Tuinasau tries; Tuinasau con, R Valegatu con, Caucau con) bt Whanganui Development XV 17 (C Riddles, C Davy, V Bainbure tries; Bainbure con). HT: 12-0.
Around the grounds
Women
The Chesters Plumbing & Bathroom Whanganui Women’s team have locked in their spot for the inaugural Heartland Series final with one regular season game to spare after a tough 26-22 win over the Thames Valley Vixens at Waitakaruru’s Hauraki North RC on Saturday. In the curtain-raiser, the Longrun Spouting Whanganui Under 16 Girls beat Thames Valley U16 34-10.
Under 18
It was a tough Saturday for the Air Chathams Whanganui Under 18 Boys in their home Trustbank Central Secondary Schools fixture with Hawke’s Bay Saracens U18s, beaten 83-0 after trailing 48-0 at halftime. The visitors scored 13 tries, converting nine of them. Second five Carmer Hannan got a hat-trick, wingers Isaiah Reiri and Charlie Nash doubles, while centre Josh Augustine contributed 19 points.
Heartland Hurricanes
The Heartland Hurricanes Under 20s and their Whanganui contingent finished their Central Region Shield tournament with a 47-19 defeat to runners-up Hawke’s Bay U19 in Napier on Saturday. The Wellington U19s won the shield for the 21st time in 40 competitions, beating the winless Manawatu U19 64-24 in Palmerston North.
Schools
The Whanganui High School Girls team received a default victory over Horowhenua College in Wednesday’s MRU Secondary School Girls competition round. Cullinane College were on the bye, and sit top of the standings over WHS thanks to having more bonus points, both with 4-1 records in the second phase of games.
Jack McCarthy
Whanganui Collegiate 1st XV captain Jack McCarthy has been named in the NZ Under 18 Māori Ngā Whatukura Boys team. NZ Māori U18 will play Northland Under 19 in Hamilton on September 23 and then NZ Barbarians U18 on September 28th.
