Rugby: Transtasman battle a winner for all

The Marist St Michael's under-10 team score in the corner against their Australian counterparts in Rotorua yesterday. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

It may not have been the All Blacks versus Wallabies but Rotorua's Marist Park played host to a transtasman rugby battle this week.

The Newport under-10 team (northern Sydney) visited Rotorua yesterday to play Marist St Michael's at Marist Park.

The young team from across the ditch were in the country on a rugby and cultural trip which wrapped up in Rotorua.

The Marist under-10s managed to win the transtasman match 39-17 despite a comeback in the second half from the Aussies. Marist coach Johan Bosch said it was a good experience for his boys.

"It is the first time playing on the full field for our boys, so it was an introduction and I think they went well.

"Newport, like us, had a few good players there who will be right up there in the future."

Newport coach Kevin Wallis said he had been planning the trip since May which included two games in Te Awamutu and one in Rotorua.

"This is the first time travelling outside of Australia for a lot of the boys," he said. "They have had an absolute ball. We have done the cultural bit and visited caves and stayed on farms and today they go down to Whaka and stay at the marae."

Before the match in Rotorua, Newport sang the Australian national anthem and Marist replied with a haka. Newport is a junior rugby club and has about 500 kids.