Ōtorohanga were back at home on Island Reserve after a good away win last weekend hosting Fraser Tech.
Fraser Tech made the trip south following their first win of the year and had hopes of making it consecutive wins for the first time since late 2023.
Ōtorohanga had different plans and put the Hamilton men to the sword early and commanded home with a big 52-14 win.
University doubled their win record in 2024 with a strong 54-7 home win against Morrinsville Sports which has seen the students move up the top four with two wins and two loss record.
Doubles to Josh Radcliffe and Jole Naufahu were the highlights for the home side, while Patrick Hedley converted seven from eight off the tee.
Hamilton Marist have secured their hands on their first trophy of the year beating Hamilton Old Boys 71-32 and taking the Stag Trophy back across the river.
At Bedford Park, it looked likely of a huge upset. The home side up 10-0 at the breakthrough tries to Damien Arnold and Sean Tuhakaraina and table toppers Hautapu struggling to put anything together to challenge the home side.
The halftime break was much needed for the Cambridge side and clearly worked – storming home in the second half to put on 17 unanswered points, winning 17-10 and staying four from four to start 2024.
Arguably the upset of the weekend was Melville getting up 15-14 over Te Awamutu Sports.
A double to Hakaraia Richards-Coxhead put his team on the front foot and managed to hold on for their first win of 2024.
The upset has seen Te Awamutu Sports slip down the leaderboard and sit mid-table with two wins and two losses.
While the top three – Ōtorohanga, Hamilton Marist and Hautapu are heading in the right direction for the top five, it has become a mid-table log jam with sides all with either two wins or one win from four starts.
Fourth-placed University sit on 10 competition points, while ninth-place Fraser Tech sit on five competition points – plenty to play for in the next month or so of the premiership first round.
Division One
In a special weekend for Hinuera as they celebrated their centenary, their Senior A men’s side delivered a performance for the community to be proud of – winning 16-13 against previously unbeaten Putāruru and with it, standing at the top of Division One ladder.
Kicker George Samuels stayed cool in challenging conditions to effectively kick his side to victory through one conversion and three penalties.
Fellow unbeaten side Suburbs, who have a game in hand after having the bye earlier, kept their fine form in week four and are looking strong in 2024.
They took a 70-0 win over Kereone, running in 12 tries.
Frankton made the tough trip south to Tokoroa, facing Southern United who were keen to get their season back on track following a loss to Hinuera.
Southern United didn’t quite put up the ton, winning 99-10 against the men from Swarbrick Park.
Leamington travelled across to Pirongia and put on a clinical display, winning 52-5 and maintaining a solid grip inside the top five.
In the final match, Te Rapa made the trip north from St Andrews Park to do battle with Taupiri at Murphy Lane in what was the tightest Division One game of the weekend.
The visitors came home with a well-earned 25-19 road win in their first win of 2024.
Waitomo Group Women’s Premiership and Championship
Two matches in the Women’s Premiership with Ōtorohanga getting a good strong home win v University and the Melville ladies kicking off what turned out to be a successful afternoon at Collins Road.
Ōtorohanga got out to an early strong lead at the halftime break with University bringing on what was a strong bench.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late for the University side as the home side did enough to stay in front, winning 29-15.
Kihikihi travelled into town to face competition leaders Melville.
Starting the year with a perfect record Melville are looking to be a strong side and will be tough to beat in 2024.
Kihikihi are struggling to get their season underway with four losses from four starts – the latest a 43-19 defeat at Collins Road.
The Women’s Championship followed a similar path with big wins for Suburbs winning 77-0 over Waitete and Putāruru winning 55-5 over Hautapu in Cambridge.
United Matamata Sports made the trip across to Hauraki winning in a tight 15-12 battle.
Colts
Hinuera’s Colts side got the centenary celebrations off to the best start with a quality 18-3 win over United Matamata Sports Friday night under lights.
Tries to Kohan Bigham and Bruno McNab were more than enough to get the home side over the line vs near rivals United Matamata Sports.
Saturday afternoon provided plenty of quality tight-scoring matches. Hamilton Marist made the trip down Old Farm Road and outscored University 31-19, Hautapu got one up in the Cambridge derby v Leamington 19-12 while Pirongia travelled into town and got up by seven 27-20 over Suburbs.
Thames Valley United remained unbeaten, winning 21-7 over Fraser Tech at Mill Street Park while down the road, Hamilton Old Boys beat Morrinsville Sports 48-22 to sit inside the top four with Hamilton Marist, Thames Valley United and Hautapu.
Under 85kg
The 2023 final rematch between Hamilton Marist and Morrinsville Sports turned out to be a bit more one-sided than anticipated.
Defending champions Morrinsville came into town and stormed home seven tries to one versus the Marist men who would have backed themselves for a strong home performance.
Melville proved to be too strong for Leamington winning 34-3 while Fraser Tech hosted Kio Kio United Cattle Dogs winning 62-0 in a nine-try route of the travelling King Country men.
