Centre Sione Osamu carries two Lindisfarne defenders with him to score one of his two tries in Collegiate's comfortable win on Wednesday afternoon.
Centre Sione Osamu carries two Lindisfarne defenders with him to score one of his two tries in Collegiate's comfortable win on Wednesday afternoon.
Whanganui Collegiate 1st XV have the breathing space they needed on top of the points table as they now take a break from their Central North Island campaign after Wednesday's 46-26 disposal of Lindisfarne at the school grounds.
Having played seven of their nine round robin matches, Collegiate have a6-1 record to be 11 points clear in first place, although they have played 2-3 games more than the rest of the teams.
Their focus now goes to preparations for the upcoming Quadrangular Tournament being hosted in Wellington, before the annual match with Whanganui High School 1st XV, then returning to the CNI in late July.
Coach Steve Simpson said after poor starts in the last two games, they had spoken about being patient and applying early pressure.
Having the field position on a Lindisfarne lineout, blindside flanker Sam Sherriff intercepted the ball and scored after only 120 seconds of play.
Hooker Ben Strang, who took over the captaincy for the injured Henry Kilmister, then followed up with the second try off a good pick-and-go run from prop Tawhiwhi Karaitiana.
Lindisfarne finally swung onto attack, but Collegiate withstood the pressure and second-five Te Atawhai Mason intercepted in the 22m to dash off and set up a try to first-five Harry Godfrey coming up in support.
The visitors regrouped and this time with continuous pressure were able to force their way over for a converted try, but Collegiate swooped again on their next attack with lock Hunter Morrison getting the intercept and feeding fullback Beau Hourigan to run 70m for the bonus point try.
Collegiate led 22-7 at the break, but Lindisfarne started well by scoring another converted try to narrow the gap to eight points.
However, centre Sione Osamu stepped up to score two converted tries, getting a double for the second straight match to put his team out of reach.
Lindisfarne didn't quit trying, getting two more tries including an intercept of their own through hard-working second-five Charlie Dods.
But at 36-26, Collegiate finished the match off as Strang went over for his second try from a very good lineout drive, also earning a double in consecutive matches, and then openside flanker Tom Pease finished off sustained pressure in the forwards for the team's seventh try.
Collegiate's first game of the Quadrangular will be against home team Wellington College on Monday, July 1, with a 1.30pm kickoff, and depending on results they will either play Christ's College or Nelson College on the Wednesday, July 3.
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There was further good news for Whanganui Collegiate 1st XV after their win over Lindisfarne on Saturday.
Captain and hooker Ben Strang and goal-kicking second-five Te Atawhai Mason have both been chosen among 48 players to attend the Hurricanes Age Grade Camp, being held at Napier Boys' High School in July.
The camp features Under 17-18 players from around the Hurricanes catchment to spend a week receiving specialist coaching and tuition on a wide range of topics.
These will include mental skills, technical and tactical development, physical preparation, nutrition and leadership.
Second-five Te Atawhai Mason, along with frontrower Ben Strang, have been chosen for the Hurricanes Age Grade Camp in July.
