Bonus point wins the order of the day as OBU remain unbeaten

Hooker Dion Lealofi, with loose forwards Braydon Soi and Fa’amanu Anae in close support for Wainuiomata in their convincing win over Wainuiomata today at Evans Bay Park. Photo: Andy McArthur.

• By Steven White & Scott MacLean

What a difference a week makes. After an awful afternoon last Saturday, the sun shone brightly over today’s Anzac Day round and fourth set of Swindale Shield matches for the year.

All seven winners won with bonus points and the Old Boys University Goats came away with their fourth straight bonus point win in beating Hutt Old Boys Marist 44-17 in their top-of-the-table clash at the Hutt Rec for the Wood Cup. More on this match below.

Elsewhere, it was heartbreak for Pōneke as they missed a penalty on fulltime to overtake Tawa but instead went down 39-40 in a Kevin Carmichael Cup thriller.

This was after a breakout and near-try only moments earlier that was denied but set up field position for the winning penalty attempt. Pōneke had twice led by 20 points. They made a rollicking start to lead 20-0 after 25 minutes, before a Tawa comeback closed the deficit to 25-14 at halftime. Pōneke pulled away again and when lock Adam McRandle scored their seventh try they were ahead 39-19. Tawa, however, came home with a wet sail and scored three converted tries to take a one-point lead and ultimately break red and black hearts.

For Tawa, Hurricanes Development loose forward Matolu Petaia and right wing Thomas Temu were amongst their best, while lock Maea Tema-schmidt, left wing Jeremiah Tuhega – Vaitupu and second-five Ifeanyichukwu Nnebechukwu tried hard for the home side.

It was a similar feeling across the road at Evans Bay Park for home supporters of Marist St Pat’s whose team missed out 17-34 to Wainuiomata for the Rona-Morrissey Cup. Wainuiomata made a convincing start and led 29-12 at halftime as MSP had lineout woes and struggled for momentum.  Left wing Raymond Va’a scored two tries, right wing Ray Va’a scored one and fullback Campbell Cowie also scored two tries. Wainuiomata also missed most of their kicks so this win could have been by more.

Moving deeper into the eastern suburbs, Oriental-Rongotai claimed a vital bonus point win over the Avalon Wolves. Ories won 71-3. Ories scored 11 tries with fullback Jordan Soli scoring one of these and also kicking eight conversions to move to the top of the points scorers for the year with 49 points.

Petone were playing on the Wolves’ home ground Fraser Park, with the Petone Rec out of action, and they eased to a 32-17 win over the Johnsonville Hawks in a strong performance for the Villagers. Five different players scored tries in the five tries to two win.

At Porirua Park Number One Ground at Porirua Park Stadium, visitors the Wellington Axemen bounced back from their waterlogged loss to Johnsonville last week with a 52-17 win over Northern United. Lock Archie Treadwell scored two of their eight tries, while Norths scored five tries but just one was converted.

Up at Ngati Toa Domain, Paremata-Plimmerton came in fresh from their week off last Saturday to blitz the Upper Hutt Rams 39-12. More on this game below.

The unofficial Swindale Shield points table after four weeks reads: Old Boys University 20, Hutt Old Boys Marist and Tawa 15, Petone and Wainuiomata 14, Paremata-Plimmerton* and Wellington 11, Marist St Pat’s 10, Oriental-Rongotai and Northern United 9, Johnsonville 6, Pōneke 5, Avalon* 1

*Paremata-Plimmerton and Avalon have a game in hand and meet each other in a catch-up match that hasn’t been confirmed.

At the Hutt Rec, OBU delivered something of a blitzkrieg as they blew HOBM off their own field with a convincing 44-17 win. The Goats led 29-5 at the interval, with the home Eagles barely able to fire a shot.

An early Manu Manuao penalty was followed by a try to starlet fullback Hunter Kennedy as he ghosted through the defence, and HOBM’s woes were compounded when lock David Filipo saw yellow. The Eagles were able to get downfield but a turnover saw the ball go back the other way and Kennedy scored his second in the northwest corner. Needing something the Eagles got it when Luca Rees barged over for his seemingly obligatory try, but that was quickly snuffed out when winger Calum Koebergh danced through, and skipper Geordie Bean scored from close range.

It was outstanding rugby from OBU but came at significant cost as props Laurence Jarel-Lim and Gareth Ward-Allen both left the field with what appeared to be serious leg injuries.

The second half saw OBU push the lead out further when Jake Lawson somehow twisted his way over. There was some semblance of a reply when Mika Alaifatu scored for the home team, but Koebergh scored his second, Rupeni Raviyawa a third for HOBM, before Sam Walton-Sexton concluded the match that ended with uncontested scrums with a long-range penalty.

It was clearly a marker for OBU and their ambitions this season. Flanker Mitchell Shields and lock Jonty Riley were massive, and converted first-five Jake Lawson improves with every outing. HOBM will be concerned at the performance of their set pieces, but were second-best across the park with fullback Flynn Ruscoe the only player to emerge with any real credit.

It was a not dissimilar story at Mana as home team Paremata-Plimmerton scored 34 unanswered points in the second half to romp home over the Upper Hutt Rams.

With the sun and breeze in their favour, Paremata-Plimmerton turned around a 5-12 halftime deficit to win 39-12, scoring six tries for the win which could have been more, but they could land only two of seven conversions.

Paremata-Plimmerton did the damage immediately after halftime with three quick tries which rocked the Rams.

The first of these was from a Rams knock-on from the kick-off, and from the ensuing scrum, Paremata-Plimmerton went wide to the Mana Flash, Louis Northcott. The second was from a breakout instigated by halfback Esi Komaisavai and finished off by the same player with an extravagant dive in front of the clubrooms corner. The third try resulted from a penalty and lineout on the far side and a try in the same corner to second five Marzy Karim.

None of these tries were converted, and now trailing 20-12, the Rams had ample time to regroup. They did so over the next 15 minutes, but it was a tale of woe for their supporters as they missed out on scoring no fewer than four tries, all from lineouts and scrums that were also well defended by the home team. Any one of these could have put them right back in the game, while they also turned down at least two kickable penalty kicks.

Nevertheless, the Rams were still in the game with 15 minutes to play, but the home side won a turnover at ricktime and in broken play, halfback Komaisavai threw a pinpoint pass to centre Floyd Rose who shot through to score to make it 25-12.

They scored again to seal victory from another long-range turnover involving hooker Toby Mallon, Northcott and try-scorer Karim. First five Zane Edwards kicked his first conversion of the afternoon from the sideline to establish a 20-point lead.

Paremata-Plimmerton then scored again on the final whistle through hooker Mallon, this time from a lineout and rolling maul on the clubrooms side of the ground.

The Rams out-scored Paremata-Plimmerton two tries to one in the first half. Paremata-Plimmerton left wing William Teleaga opened the scoring with a try from a scrum after 15 minutes. The Rams replied in the 21^st minute with a penalty try, which also resulted in Paremata-Plimmerton No 8 Jeremiah Avei-Collins being sinbinned.

The Rams enjoyed their best period of the match over the next period until half time but it wasn’t until the stroke of half time that they could score again. After being held up over the line, they ran back a Paremata-Plimmerton dropout and fullback Todd Svenson threw a long pass out to No. 8 Josh Mallon who regathered and passed on to right wing Josh Love who scored in the corner.

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Premier 2

The leaders continued to set the pace in the Harper Lock Shield. HOBM put OBU to the sword winning 79-5, and Petone bested Johnsonville 47-5. MSP kept pace with a 43-22 win over Wainuiomata, but Pare-Plim fell from the unbeatens with a 21-38 loss to Upper Hutt.

Elsewhere Norths spanked Wellington 62-5, Avalon beat Ories 36-28 and Tawa beat Poneke 33-26.

In the Ngāti Toa Domain curtain raiser played on a heavy underfoot No 2 field, visitors the Upper Hutt Rams scored three late tries to run out winners over home side Paremata-Plimmerton.

However, Paremata-Plimmerton had come back from 19-7 down – following a barnstorming try for the Rams to former Paremata-Plimmerton No 8 Peni Taupau – to score two tries in quick succession and take a 21-19 lead to set up a possible thriller.

These tries were scored by No 8 Zeke Fiso and right wing Tia Va’alepu, but when veteran Josh Hunt crossed for the Rams soon after, the wind was taken out of the home side’s sails.

Earlier, the Rams scored a 25^th minute try to lead 7-0 at half time. Another veteran, Koli Feaunati, scored to make it 12-0. Both teams scored again, before the fireworks in the final 15 minutes.

In the early game at the Hutt Rec, HOBM made little race of a comprehensive 79-5 shellacking of an undermanned OBU. HOBM scored six tries in racing to a 38-0 lead at the break with Kapu Broughton-Winterburn – who played a full 80 minutes and seemed badly missed by their Premiers – scoring an early double.

The pressure wasn’t released after the break as they ran in seven more, including a hat-trick for fullback Ratu Valegatu, against a lone try for the visitors

Colts

Points aplenty in the three Colts matches played today. At Fraser Park Petone made a statement of intent by beating Tawa 52-17. HOBM accounted for OBU 39-19, while it was a wild encounter at Ngati Toa as Upper Hutt beat Pare-Plim 47-40.

Women’s

Some Women’s results yet to be confirmed, but Oriental-Rongotai enjoyed a 31-30 win over Wainuiomata at the Polo Ground.

The Petone Ponies beat the Old Boys University Impalas 83-0, with recent St Mary’s College school leaver Ana Kerr scoring four tries and kicking three conversions for 26 points.

U85kg

There were just two matches played today in the U85kg first round JC Bowl competition.

It was the Johnsonville Terrahawks who made a statement in the first of these, beating the OBU Scallywags 50-12 at Helston Park.

The other fixture saw the Paremata-Plimmerton Piranhas beat the HOBM Howlers 33-24 at neutral Maidstone Park. Paremata-Plimmerton won five tries to four, but also kicked four conversions to HOBM’s two

Elsewhere Tawa and Eastbourne have deferred their fixture to King’s Birthday weekend and Wellington defaulted to Pōneke today.

Elsewhere

The Greytown machine marches on in Wairarapa-Bush, notching another big win, this time 42-0 over East Coast. Back in town, Masterton Red Star crossed the river and came away with a 37-21 win over Pioneer, while the ‘best of the rest” contest at Carterton saw the hosts win 51-31 over Martinborough

Just two games in play today in the Horowhenua-Kapiti  competition as Waikanae edged out Levin College Old Boys 43-41 in a thriller. Foxton were defaulted to by Rahui, while Levin Wanderers pipped Paraparaumu 29-24.

Kia Toa narrowly beat Feilding Yellows 29-27 in today’s feature clash in the Manawatu. Elsewhere Varsity remained unbeaten in closing out College Old Boys 38-0, Old Boys Marist were 50-24 winners over Freyberg, and Te Kawau’s season of misery hit a new low as they were trounced 112-0 by fellow cellar-dwellers Feilding OB-Oroua. Linton had the bye

In Hawke’s Bay Napier Old Boys Marist sent a message as they thumped defending champions Taradale 70-12 in the headline match up there. Across town Pirates beat Hastings 48-25, Napier Tech narrowly beat MAC 27-26, and Bridge Pa copped another flogging; this time 112-0 at the hands of Havelock North.