Waisake Salabiau from Hautapu in action vs Hamilton Old Boys in their Premiership Semi-final matchup. He is the competitions leading try scorer for 2023. Photo / Matt Gould
Waisake Salabiau from Hautapu in action vs Hamilton Old Boys in their Premiership Semi-final matchup. He is the competitions leading try scorer for 2023. Photo / Matt Gould
In yet another weekend of tricky weather Hamilton Marist and Hautapu booked themselves a place in the Waikato Draught Breweries Shield Premiership Final.
Meanwhile, Fraser Tech & United Matamata Sports got up over their respective opposition and will do battle this weekend in the Lone Star Championship.
Albert Park was abuzz - a temporary grandstand, all teams at home in anticipation of the club’s first home semi-final in 32 years and a packed house ready for what was always going to be a tight match-up between Te Awamutu and Hamilton Marist. It was the home side who started the stronger of the two sides dominating possession and territory with some wide attacking flair.
Te Awamutu Sports had an early try ruled out by the match officials where they deemed the TA player had not kept the ball in the field of play, but soon after there was no denying the quality breakout try to loose forward Niah Church-Jones.
Off the back of a line break from left winger Stacey Daniel who popped up in midfield cutting the Marist backline in halfway, Niah Church-Jones was on the receiving end of the final pass from fullback Latrell Smiler-Ah-Kong to put Te Awamutu Sports in front 7-nil.
Not long after the Marist men kicked into gear and slowly built their way back into the match. Getting back on par with some possession of their own, a couple of errors by Te Awamutu Sports inside their own 22m saw Hamilton Marist level the scores through a penalty try following a dominant scrum by Hamilton Marist.
United Matamata Sports Rhys Dickinson carries into contact vs Morrinsville Sports in the Lone Star Cup Championship semi-final. Photo / United Matamata Sports Rugby Club
Hamilton Marist again capitalised off the back of another error by Te Awamutu Sports and soon found themselves in front 14-7 midway through the first half, and right on the stroke of halftime another try through Hamilton Marist’s tight head prop Mosese Mafi saw the travelling side take a 21-7 lead at the break.
The second half was much of a continuation for the away side, and they continued to dominate all aspects of the game. A very strong forward pack and scrum dominance saw Hamilton Marist be rewarded on a number of occasions and used this to great effect to get quality front football on attack, or to put pressure on Te Awamutu Sports defensively.
Four more tries to Hamilton Marist in the second half through their dominant forwards ensured they will move on to the big dance this coming weekend, while Te Awamutu Sports ended their season with a quality try of their own in the 80th minute to captain Smiler-Ah-Kong to wrap up their 2023 campaign. Hamilton Marist won 43-19.
Meanwhile, over in Cambridge, it was a repeat of the 2022 semi-final between Hautapu and Hamilton Old Boys at Memorial Park. In what was a largely even battle it was the kicking off the tee from Hautapu’s Cameron Gregory-Ring that was the big difference between the two sides.
Hautapu outscored Hamilton Old Boys five tries to four, but it was the boot of Gregory-Ring who converted four of those five tries, to Hamilton Old Boys’ zero from four off the tee proving the difference. Hautapu’s go-to man this season has been left winger Waisake Salabiau who was the competition’s leading try scorer heading into the weekend, and as he has done most other weeks prior to this week – he touched down not once, but twice to finish the season as the competition’s leading try scorer for 2023.
Further tries to Hautapu’s Quintony Ngatai (2) and Quentin Hill out on the right wing were ultimately too much for Hamilton Old Boys with Hautapu picking up a tough-fought 33-20 victory win in front of their home fans.
Week 14 Colts action between Hinuera and Suburbs at Wealleans Park, Hinuera. Hinuera winning 31-7. Photo / Hinuera Rugby Club
With that win booking themselves a home final, as they did in 2020 & 2021, at Memorial Park on Saturday 15th July from 2.45pm.
In the Premier B competition, top side Hamilton Marist faced a stern challenge from the Otorohanga Premier B side who came into Hamilton. In challenging conditions on a wet and muddy Marist Park, it was the home side who got up 22-19 to book themselves a spot in their third consecutive final.
At Albert Park, Te Awamutu Sports Premier B hosted Hamilton Old Boys Premier B and in an interrupted match due to a serious injury, it was again the home side who picked up the victory 46-24 in seven tries to three affair in front of their passionate home crowd.
The Lone Star Championship saw Fraser Tech get up over University for the third time this season winning in front of their home crowd at Mill Street’s Waikato Steele Fabricators Park 34-14. Fraser Tech scoring six tries to two from the students ensured they will play for the Lone Star Cup in 2023 after previous seasons battling it out for the Breweries Shield.
The other semi-final was hosted at Bedford Park, where hosts United Matamata Sports put on a defensive clinic for Morrinsville Sports winning 22-0. Tries to Damien Arnold, Tana Tuhakaraina and Ryan Tuhakaraina rounded out a good all-round team performance booking themselves a spot in the Lone Start Championship final for the second consecutive year after winning it in 2022 by default.
The Mooloo Shield Competition, yet again, delivered more quality results and another result that would have shocked followers of this competition. Leamington travelled down to Putaruru as they did on April 1, and like that afternoon, both sides walked away with another hard-fought draw – this time 34 all. A result that sees Putaruru finish top of the Mooloo Shield standings and will host this weekend’s final between the same two sides.
A late conversion to the home side Brad Karl ensured the draw for Putaruru and ensured they would host this weekend’s final. Both sides could not be split, five tries a piece, three conversions a piece and a sole penalty kick each means that in 160 minutes of rugby between the two teams, they cannot be separated.
Plenty to play for this weekend when both sides go again in the Mooloo Shield Final at Nola Block at 2.45pm.
In the day’s other match, it was Southern United who picked up a 19-7 win over the home side Pirongia to finish the season in third place, while Pirongia wrap up a good season finishing inside the top five.
The Division One Championship had plenty to play for too – Taupiri needed a win over Suburbs to ensure they played finals footy, while Hinuera and Te Rapa both needed a win and Taupiri to lose for them to have any chance of making the final dance.
While Hinuera and Te Rapa played out an exciting four tries to two 32-17 win for the Hinuera men, it was Taupiri coming home with the spoils over Suburbs ensuring they will play finals rugby this weekend – again vs Suburbs. Taupiri won 17-13 in a tight, back-and-forth compelling fixture out at Murphy’s Lane. The Under 85kg Competition was also in semi-finals week where both top sides Morrinsville Sports and Hamilton Marist won in comprehensive fashion in front of their loyal home supporters. Morrinsville Sports hosted Melville at Campbell Park winning 20 points to 8 in what were wet and windy conditions while Hamilton Marist had to battle it out on the muddy Marist Park, winning 21-8 over Fraser Tech – a side they were yet to beat in 2023.
Morrinsville Sports will host Hamilton Marist in this weekend’s final at Campbell Park. Morrinsville Sports only lost twice in 2023 – both to Hamilton Marist so plenty to play for both sides.
The Colt Competition played what was their second to last round for the regular season with top side Hamilton Marist experiencing their first taste of defeat for the season going down 22-7 to a very clinical Hautapu side in the Marist mud.
Meanwhile, fellow top four sides Morrinsville Sports hosted Hamilton Old Boys at Campbell Park in Morrinsville with the home side upsetting the Hamilton men 34-10, a result that sees the Morrinsville boys jump Hamilton Old Boys and now sit third on the ladder. With Hautapu’s win over Marist, they too jump Hamilton Marist and now look likely to host their remaining fixtures in Cambridge for 2023.
The local derby of the weekend saw the Pirongia Colts travel down the road to take on Te Awamutu Sports at Albert Park in a traditional derby match. It was the travelling side picking up a hard 10-3 win in front of a large vocal crowd at Albert Park.
In other matches, Leamington travelled over to Matamata outscoring the home side 36-24 to pick up their sixth win of the year. Hinuera proved to be too strong over the travelling Suburbs team winning 31-7 at home while Thames Valley United made the trip to Te Kuiti winning 58-0 over Waitete.
