Waikite's Atareta Taakuta was a powerhouse against Rotoiti in the second half on Sunday. Photo / Andrew Warner
Waikite's Atareta Taakuta was a powerhouse against Rotoiti in the second half on Sunday. Photo / Andrew Warner
Waikite came out on top in a low scoring but hard-fought local derby against Rotoiti.
The game, played at Rotoiti's home ground Emery Park yesterday, was a bit of a slow burner with Waikite coming to life in the second half to claim a 22-5 victory.
Rotoiti had the better of the early possession and territory - their forwards retained the ball well and the backs, particularly Polly Playle - who was playing at fullback rather than her customary halfback, threatened to break through on several occasions.
Waikite are the defending champions and, while their player numbers are a little depleted this season, they produced some of the desperate defence and monster tackles fans have come to expect from them.
With about 10 minutes left in the first half, Rotoiti finally made the breakthrough. They worked a neat passing play on the left-hand sided which resulted in Playle bursting through a gap. She left the last defender for dead with a superb piece of footwork to score the opening try and give her side a 5-0 lead at halftime.
Rotoiti fullback and captain Polly Playle runs in her side's only try of the match against Waikite. Photo/Andrew Warner
Waikite found their feet in the second half and began to put together some good attacking phases.
New first five Talia Poutini-Lawrence, who travels from Whanganui to play for Waikite, demonstrated an effective and intelligent kicking game, getting her side out of trouble and into good attacking positions.
Twenty minutes into the second half Waikite had their first try. They won a penalty in front but turned down a kick at goal to continue attacking and it paid off. They worked the ball left and quick hands saw winger Sharntae Hicks dive over in the corner to make it 5-all.
Waikite prop Animei Skudder was wreaking havoc among the Rotoiti defence every time she ran the ball and it was a break from her own half which led to a second try for Hicks and a 10-5 lead to Waikite.
They made it 15-5 when Skudder crashed over from close range before Dolly Roberts put the cherry on top, producing a massive fend to score the bonus point try, which she converted to make it 22-5.
Waikite coach Shane Wilson said it was a "very slow start" from his side.
"We didn't sort of get into it until the 60th minute. That's when we started straightening up with the ball, there was a lot of wayward passing in the first half and nobody really wanted to run it. We just needed people to start putting their hands up and straightening.
"It was good to see the winger scoring, as long as our middle works well we can suck the fringes in and score on the wings," Wilson said.
He said first five Poutini-Lawrence had brought a new energy to the team, as well as a handy kicking and passing game.
Playle, Rotoiti's captain, said it was a "tough" game, as expected against a side like Waikite.
"I think we did well in the first half and it just gets a bit hard to keep it up for 80 minutes. With the experience the Waikite ladies have, they know how to expose that.
"I thought the whole game for us was a positive. There's not many chances we have to go forward in our backs, but I thought our backs had a really good game. The forwards secured the ball well and got it to us early," Playle said.
The women's rugby competition goes into a one week break now before knockout games begin. The top two, Rangataua and Rangiuru, go straight through to semi-finals. Whakarewarewa will play Rotoiti and Waikite will play Waimana for the other semi-final spots.
