Action from Hinuera’s clash against Taupiri at Murphy Lane, Taupiri. Photo / Hinuera Rugby
Action from Hinuera’s clash against Taupiri at Murphy Lane, Taupiri. Photo / Hinuera Rugby
A big weekend of footy wrapped up Saturday afternoon, and for a number of sides it has secured their place on the table, while for some sides, it has put all the pressure on this weekend for the Waikato Draught Breweries Shield Premiership.
Hamilton Marist travelled out to Albert Park to take on a red-hot Te Awamutu Sports side who have only lost once at home in 2023 – against Hamilton Marist in mid-April. This time around, the home side made amends for that defeat, getting across the line 33-31 in a back-and-forth battle. Scoring five tries to four, Te Awamutu were too strong, and with that victory have ensured they will finish second on the ladder and will host playoff rugby at Albert Park – a first since the early 2000s.
Coming off the bye week, Hamilton Marist were confident making the trip south and back themselves to get the much-needed victory, but the Travis Church-coached side had other arrangements. Front rower Sean Ralph touched down for a double while the outside backs – Stacey Daniel, Cody Nordstrom and Latiell Smiler-Ah-Kiong – all touched down once each.
Hamilton Marist have secured a top-four finish and will host Hautapu this coming weekend, where the outcome of that match, and the Hamilton Old Boys vs Ōtorohanga game, will have a bearing on where they finish up.
The other match in the Premiership was Hautapu hosting Hamilton Old Boys at Memorial Park in Cambridge. The home side on this occasion was far too strong, crossing the line seven times while holding Hamilton Old Boys to the single try for the afternoon. Hamilton Old Boys were strengthened up front with the inclusion of Chiefs and All Blacks lock Josh Lord, who donned the red and black for the first time to get some game time prior to the upcoming Rugby Championship.
The Lone Star Championship featured one of the bigger upsets of the year and Morrinsville’s first back-to-back victories since early May 2021 – over University and United Matamata Sports. In a low-scoring affair, Morrinsville Sports upset the home side 6-0 with two penalty kicks to Oscar Yandall.
All Blacks lock Josh Lord in action for Hamilton Old Boys over Hautapu in Cambridge. Photo / Matt Gould
The other match was the opposite – a 60-pointer between Melville and United Matamata Sports at Melville High School. Matamata started the stronger of the two sides, scoring two early tries. First-five Logan Allen kicked one of those before young Legin Hotham picked up a loose pass and scampered 50 metres to ensure his side was only down 12-7 at the break.
The points flowed a bit more freely in the second 40, in which Matamata picked up a further four tries, and Melville scored three themselves. It was a busy afternoon for the Tuhakaraina boys, scoring four of their side’s six tries for the travelling men. Melville’s last of their three second-half tries came in the 80 minutes to ensure they picked up four much-needed tries for a bonus point as they head into the bye this weekend.
United Matamata Sports host University this weekend. University needs a bonus point victory to ensure they will leap Melville, get themselves off the bottom of the championship ladder and consign Melville to that dreaded promotion-relegation fixture.
The Mooloo Shield Division 1 competition crossed the halfway point in the second round with good home victories to Leamington and Putāruru respectively.
Leamington took on rivals Southern United, with the sole difference between the two teams being a single conversion. Both teams touched down for two tries and a penalty kick, with the sharp-shooting boot of Leamington’s Robert Day being enough to get his side home 17-15.
The other match was Putāruru hosting Ōhaupō at Nola Block. Another dominant performance by the Putāruru men on their home pitch saw them dot down for five tries to canter home 31-10. Those victories have Leamington and Putāruru sitting one/two on the ladder. While Leamington only has one game to play next weekend – against Putāruru back at Nola Block - Putāruru has its derby game against Southern United in Tokoroa this coming weekend, where Surf will need a good win at home to get back into contention for a top-two finish.
Te Awamutu Sports’ Sean Ralph dots down for one of his two tries over Hamilton Marist. Photo / Te Awamutu Sports
The Division 1 Championship featured two tight matches – both decided by less than a try. Taupiri went down at home 12-13 to Hinuera, while Frankton also lost at home 20-24 over Te Rapa. Hinuera bounced back well in the second round, recording two wins from two after the first-week bye, while Te Rapa picked up their first win of the second round. They do only sit just outside the top two sides of Suburbs and Hinuera – however, they are yet to have their bye weekend and could end up falling short with only one game to spare.
It was another big weekend for our Colts Competition. Front runners Hamilton Marist recorded a big 76-5 victory over Thames Valley United, while fellow top-four sides Hamilton Old Boys won by default and Hautapu had a good 31-5 win over the students.
Morrinsville Sports ground out a hard-fought 45-24 win over Leamington 45-24. The next group of four features Suburbs, Hinuera, Hamilton Boys High and Pirongia – all of which put quality showings out heading to the pointy end of the season and picked up comfortable wins.
Suburbs travelled to Matamata winning 34-5, while Hinuera travelled down to Tokoroa, brushing past them 50-5. Pirongia made the bus ride south down to Te Kūiti to take on Waitete and dotted down 10 times for a 60-12 road win, while Hamilton Boys High went down to Te Awamutu, picking up a 51-24 win.
Those teams have three matches remaining in their regular season before splitting into groups of four to play in traditional semifinal matchups, with all winners playing in their respective finals in just over a month’s time.
The Under-85kg Competition played their second-to-last match of the regular season, with all the away teams picking up quality wins. Hamilton Marist cantered home 62-0 over Kio Kio United, scoring 10 tries while holding the home side scoreless in a fine defensive effort.
Morrinsville Sports made the trip to town for their annual battle of the ‘ville and picked up another quality victory over Melville for 2023, this time winning 23-5 in challenging conditions at Collins Road.
Fraser Tech remains inside the top four and now sits on the heels of third-placed Melville, with their fifth win of the season beating Leamington 19-14 in Cambridge. While it was a closer match than the earlier clash in the season, it was another close loss for the Cambridge men which consigned them to their seventh defeat of the year and will see them miss out on the top-four playoffs for 2023.
