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Above: The St Pat’s First XV with the Premiership title. The school won three rugby finals today. PHOTO: Andy McArthur.
- By Steven White and Adam Julian
St Pat’s Silverstream teams were celebrating in the rain today, winning the three major Wellington college finals on offer, while Marist St Pat’s claimed the remaining club rugby title up for grabs.
Silverstream teams annexed the blue-chip U15 division 1 and First XV Premiership titles, while also winning the Premier 2 competition final.
The Upper Hutt school beat Wellington College 27-17 in the final of the U15 Division Father Gus Hill Cup (report below), defeated Wellington College in the final of the Premier 2 Murray Jensen Cup 25-9 and overcame St Pat’s Town 28-14 in the Premiership decider (report below).
The MSP Internationals held on in pouring rain to beat the Upper Rams J8s 13-8 in the final of the Reserve Grade Division 2 Alan Seerup Cup at Evans Bay Park.
The MSP Internationals led the Rams side 10-5 at halftime. Both teams kicked penalties after halftime to advance the score to 13-8 to MSP, before the rain and the mud took over and there was no further scoring.
In other college rugby finals today, the Rongotai College Second XV beat Wainuiomata High School 22-15 (halftime 5-0) in the Premier 3 Paul Cameron Cup decider and the Rongotai College U15s beat Naenae College 13-5 (halfime 0-5) in the U15 Division 2 Ross Findlay Cup final.
The Wellington College Fourth XV encountered the Scots College Second XV in the Premier 4 Onslow Cup final, Scots College and Aotea College contested the U65kg Division 2 final and St Pat’s Town beat HVHS 20-12 in the U55kg David Scott Cup finale.
A win and a loss at Porirua Park for Wellington representative teams.
The Wellington Pride beat the Bay of Plenty Volcanix 32-13 in the first match of the day there, but the Wellington Lions were defeated 6-15 by the Northland Taniwha.
The road has ended for both of Wellington’s last remaining sides in the Under 85kg National Club Cup. Up. In South Auckland the Upper Hutt Rams fell to Karaka 21-23 while at the other end of the country the OBU Scallywags were beaten 27-32 by the defending champion Southern Bush Pigs.
The Wellington U19s were beaten 41-12 by the Canterbury U19s in neutral Kaikoura this afternoon. Canterbury led 22-5 at halftime. Wellington’s tries were scored by Pene To’o and Noah Guise.
The Wellington Māori beat the Wellington Samoans 24-22 at the Hutt Rec (report below) and Wellington Fijians and the Manawatu U19s met at Fraser Park (result TBC) and Wellington Centurions beat the Hawke’s Bay Saracens 54-31 at Napier.
Some reports of games watched by Club Rugby contributors today below.
St Pat’s Silverstream (28) v St Pat’s Town (14)
St Pat’s Silverstream overpowered St Pat’s Town 28-14 to win their seventh Premiership title in the third match at Jerry Collins Stadium on Saturday.
Silverstream’s forwards were imperious throughout, dictating possession and territory and suffocating Town into submission.
Ironically St Pat’s Town scored the first try when second five Emmanuel Solomona boldly ran from his own in-goal area and was tackled by Italian flanker Luca Bellucci, who stole possession and scored to give them a 7-0 lead.
Silverstream kept their composure, halfback Ollie Cuff kicking a penalty to make it 7-3.
Cuff was instrumental in Silverstream’s success, missing just one shot at goal, kicking well in general play and his all-round leadership outstanding, as Silverstream shot to 20-7 lead by halftime.
The first Silverstream try was scored by tighthead prop-turned blindside flanker Patrick Solomona, muscling over after relentless phase play.
Cuff added the conversion, then kicked a 35-metre penalty to see his side go up 13-7.
Silverstream fullback Jacob Denyer scored next when the ball was shown air and second five Solomona and first five Winitana-Patelesio released him to score. This was converted from the sideline.
Cuff opened the second half scoring with a penalty to make it 23-7, ahead of the match-winning moment with Solomona crashing through the defence and unleashing a skip pass for head boy Seejay Harawira to score in the corner.
The brace Jeremiah Collins, cousin of Jerry, scored a try for St Pat’s Town, converted by first five Kayden Bond.
But there was no coming back, Silverstream keeping the ball tight, controlling territory and the forwards dominating and deserving their victory at the end of 70 minutes.
For Silverstream, halfback Ollie Cuff was amongst their best, while Jeremiah Collins and captain Chapman toiled hard all day for St Pat’s Town.
Wellington Māori (24) v Wellington Samoans (22)
The Wellington Māori held on to beat the Wellington Samoans 24-22 in their representative fixture at the Hutt Rec this afternoon.
The Wellington Māori came back from a 15-11 halftime deficit to win the game, courtesy of a converted try early in the second half and two subsequent penalties.
The Māori started and finished the match the stronger of the two teams, but the intervening hour of play was an even, hard fought contest in mostly dry conditions, with rain arriving late in the second half. The Samoans were left to rue ill-discipline, conceding two yellow cards and a barrage of penalties, mostly at the breakdown.
Playing into a moderate wind, the Māori made a cohesive start with ball in hand. This led to fullback Khya Wilson kicking two early penalties to give them a 6-0 lead. The second of these penalties came moments after they had gone close to scoring the game’s first try but openside flanker TJ Fermanis knocked on across the line.
The Samoans hit back straight away with the first try of the game, fullback Campbell Cowie sprinting through to score after a turnover on the Māori 22. The try was unconverted and the Māori led 6-5 after about 20 minutes.
The Samoans soon scored their second try, which was a combination of good luck and skill. First five Ty Poe cross-kicked out to right wing Fereti Soloa who couldn’t catch the ball with his hands but booted it ahead on the fly in-field towards the goalposts and flanker DJ Taoipu was the first of three players following up to score the try under the posts to make it 12-6 to the Samoans.
The Māori replied shortly afterwards with their first try, scored from a penalty and lineout in the far corner, to close the gap to 12-11.
The Samoans kicked a penalty to extend their lead to 15-11 but went into halftime with a forward recently sent to the sinbin.
Straight after halftime Maori flanker Api McMillan-Parata delivered a lovely short ball for lock Dylan Williamson who burst through a gap and he offloaded to halfback Declan Hay, who kicked ahead, for the Samoan defenders to fumble and McMillan-Parata to score the try. fullback Wilson’s conversion put them up 18-15.
Wilson soon extended the lead to 21-15 with a penalty following a second Samoan sinbinning.
The Samoans weren’t about to lie down, and they regained momentum and field position and in a multi-phase build-up went close to scoring but were held out. However, Māori centre Andy Ellis was sinbinned to make it 14 on 14 for the next several minutes.
The Samoans packed down a scrum to the right of the posts and No 8 Hemi Fermanis peeled off blindside and delivered a straightforward try to first five-turned halfback Ty Poe. Right wing Soloa kicked the wide angle conversion to put the Samoans up 22-21.
However, the Māori had the final say in the scoring, the Samoans losing a second player to the sin-bin and Wilson kicking a resulting penalty to make the score 24-22 with several minutes to play. There was no further scoring.
U15 Division 1 final: St Pat’s Silverstream (27) v Wellington College (17)
St Pat’s Silverstream beat Wellington College 27-17 in the final of the U15 Division 1 for the Father Gus Hill Cup at a wet Maidstone Park this morning.
In at times torrential rain, Silverstream scored the game’s first two tries and the last two to seal victory in an otherwise tightly contested decider.
Silverstream leapt out to a 12-0 lead midway through the first half through a try to their first five after a lineout and forwards drive and then to their left wing after a tap penalty and recycling from the ruck neat the tryline.
Just before halftime, Wellington College struck back with their first try through a penalty and lineout in the opposite corner, which was converted, and Silverstream led 12-7 at half time.
Both teams added to their scores through penalties, as Silverstream advanced their lead to 15-10.
Wellington College sensationally hit back with a converted try in the corner to take the lead 17-15 midway through the second half. After a series of pick-and-goes that came up desperately short of the line, Wellington College took a tap penalty and scored just inside the corner flag, followed by an excellent conversion from the sideline.
As well as rain, the wind was picking up in the second half which added to the tough nature of the final. Silverstream, however, were able to grind out their third try after a concerted period on attack to retake the lead at 22-17 with a try under the posts.
With about five minutes to play, Wellington College had one last chance to score following another raid and a yellow card to a Silverstream defender for a high tackle. Wellington College spun the ball wide again but knocked on in the corner and Silverstream escaped the danger.
Silverstream climbed back on to attack, built several phases from a penalty and lineout in the corner, and scored the match-winner with about two minutes left on referee’s time.
