Te Awamutu Sports' Austin Anderson has joined the Waikato club. Photo / Justin Miezenbeek
Te Awamutu Sports' Austin Anderson has joined the Waikato club. Photo / Justin Miezenbeek
Te Awamutu Sports’ Austin Anderson made his Waikato rugby debut on Saturday in the 19-15 loss to the Bay of Plenty Steamers at Tauranga.
Anderson became Waikato #1244, donning the No. 21 jersey in their first loss of the 2023 Bunnings NPC season.
A great achievement for the former Hamilton Boys’ High School rep, who spent time with the Brumbies this year.
“We as a club are really proud to be a part of Austin’s journey,” Te Awamutu Sports head coach Travis Church says.
“He’s an incredibly hard-working young athlete who is always looking for ways to improve his game. He is a big team man and has great values. His hard-working attitude is a big point of difference.
“It is awesome to see our programme at TA Sports be rewarded with caps this year such as Tai Cribb, Sean Ralph, Austin and Malachi Wrampling — it won’t be long till we see a couple more.”
Waikato were on the scoreboard early with a penalty from the boot of Te Awamutu Sports pivot Taha Kemara.
This was the result of a yellow card to Bay of Plenty’s Melani Nanai for a dangerous tackle on midfielder Gideon Wrampling.
Waikato led 3-0 after two minutes but Bay of Plenty didn’t concede any points while down a man and were the next team to score.
New Waikato rep Austin Anderson. Photo / Waikato Rugby Union
Midway through the first half, Leroy Carter was put into some space down the sideline to score in the corner.
Lucas Cashmore added the extras from out wide and the Steamers led 7-3 after 20 minutes.
Just before halftime Bay of Plenty extended their advantage with halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi scoring under the posts.
Cashmore converted and the Steamers went into halftime up 14-3.
Former Te Awamutu Sports flanker Malachi Wrampling grabbed Waikato’s first try early in the second half.
The big forward was tackled before the line but reached out to dot down.
The try was unconverted and the home side extended their lead to 11 points soon after. Cashmore crossed for Bay of Plenty’s third try but failed to convert.
At 19-8 with 17 minutes remaining, Waikato were hot on attack. Gideon Wrampling put through a grubber kick for Bailyn Sullivan to run, regain and score.
Kemara added the extras and Waikato were then within four points.
