Wellington U16s start with a nail-biting win over Manawatu, a win and a loss for lower North Island Heartland teams

There was plenty of open running today at Lyndhurst Park as the Wellington U16s held on at the end to beat the Manawatu U16s in their competition opener. Photo: Andy McArthur.

• By Steven White & Scott MacLean

A busy day of rugby across the lower North Island, highlighted by U16s rugby and the penultimate round of the Heartland Championship.

This weekend’s action commenced on Friday afternoon at Evans Bay Park, with the visiting Tasman U18s beating the Wellington Māori U18s 33-5.

There were two U16s representative matches at a fine and breezy Lyndhurst Park this afternoon.

In the first, the Wellington U16s Girls beat the Manawatu U16s Girls by about 20 points (score to follow) that was closer than the scoreline shows. Wellington pulled away late to win well.

In the second, the fulltime score of 20-17 to the Wellington U16s Boys over the Manawatu U16s Boys was an accurate reflection of the game, in their opening 2026 HYRC U16 Division 1 Don Broughton Shield competition fixture.

Last week, the Centurions U18s were pipped by a point at the death by the Hawke’s Bay U18s and it seemed that this match was heading the same way when Manawatu broke up field in the dying stages and went close to scoring twice, the second on a penalty advantage. From the next play they tapped and went for the try but a desperate one-on-one strip made by replacement prop Olu Siohane-Hune saved the day and the ball was spilled forward over the whitewash.

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Only a couple of minutes earlier, Manawatu had scored through fullback Stephen Bason in the left corner to make it a one-score game, after Wellington replacement first-five Ryder Caine had kicked a 35 metre penalty to put Wellington in front 20-12 and then missed another moments later from a similar spot.

Wellington had led 10-0 at halftime but Manawatu had closed this up to 10-7 with a converted try to centre and German age-grade international Moritz Thonfeld.

Both teams had struggled to win their own lineouts in windy conditions, but Wellington’s scrum that was anchored by Silverstream first XV loosehead prop Ryder Langi was dominant. After a penalty and lineout in the corner was knocked on, Wellington won a penalty from the next scrum and No. 8 Vane Kamoto scored to put Wellington up 17-7.

Wellington’s scrum was then penalised for pushing too far over the mark and 75 seconds later Manawatu came up with their second try in front of the infamous lighting pole at the northern end of the ground. This made it 17-12 and set up the tight final 15 minutes.

Earlier, there had been no scoring in the match until about 10 minutes before halftime, owing to Wellington’s lineout woes and a super-competitive breakdown contest.

The competition amongst both sets of loose forwards was a feature. Wellington lost starting blindside Cameron Jacobson in the first half but Isaac Sanele and Kamoto were both prominent. For Manawatu, blindside Eli Satchwell was highly productive throughout, as was openside Sam Cole and No. 8 Carter Monaghan.

Wellington’s first try and the opening score of the game in the 25^th minute was a Lyndhurst Park classic. From a scrum just outside their own 22, halfback Max Crown ran at the advantage line and offloaded to centre and co-captain RJ So’ialo who burst free on a 60-metre run the line.

Wellington doubled their lead with their second try on the stroke of halftime, with starting five-five Jaden Piper running through a gap and finding second-five Abi Tuita who was caught just short of the line, but fast recycling saw right wing Nate Silvewright lunge over in front of the clubrooms.

Now with the wind, Wellington were hot on to attack in the second half and were held up over the line going for their third try. Manawatu rallied and almost scored two minutes later down the other of the field, before finally scoring after turning over Wellington’s ball as they ran it on their exit play and converting to set the second half alight.

In the other Division 1 HYRC U16s game the Hawke’s Bay A team beat the Hawke’s Bay Development side 70-5 in Napier.

Wellington, Manawatu and the two Hawke’s Bay teams convene at Whanganui Collegiate over three days next week for rounds two and three and finals day.

In Division 2 matches today the Wairarapa-Bush U16s accounted for the Whanganui U16s 73-12 and Poverty Bay beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 53-17  in Napier.

These four teams continue the Saracens Cup competition alongside the Division 1 sides over three days from 5-7 October.

In another U16s match played today at Evans Bay Park, the Wellington Māori U16s beat the touring Melbourne Brothers Academy U16s 62-7.

At Patea, the Wellington Co-ed Schools U18s lost to the Taranaki U18s 50-7.

The Wellington Centurions Girls were scheduled to meet the Hawke’s Bay U18s Girls but the latter defaulted owing to unavailability’s.

In Palmerston North, the Wellington U18s Girls met the Manawatu U18s girls. Result/score to follow.

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Heartland Championship

The Meads Cup chances for both Horowhenua-Kapiti and Wairarapa Bush both took hits today. Despite winning, results elsewhere mean the Bush are locked into the Lochore Cup, while Horo-Kap’s are now slim after defeat at the hands of North Otago.

In Masterton, the Bush produced one of their best efforts of the season in taking down Whanganui 37-25 and all but ending their hopes of a Meads Cup berth.

The visitors made the ideal start, crossing with less than three minutes gone but that would be only a minor setback for the hosts. Their reply came on 10 minutes when winger Charles Mataitai sliced through the Butcher Boys backline off a scrum 40m out and would double his tally five minutes later when Bush skipper Daryl Pickering decided to go blind off an attacking ruck and the big winger shrugged off his opponent to cross in the corner.

Hoera Stephenson then kicked a penalty, followed by a second for the visitors but after losing their captain when referee Matt Thomas grew tired of their persistent infringing on their goal-line it was Bush midfielder Harry Eschenbach – a late change before kick-off for Fiula Tameilau – who spun through the defence after No.8 Folau Finau-Vea was stopped short.

In contrast to the first half, the Bush were first on the board in the second when after a second yellow card and Finau-Vea again being denied twice from attacking scrums Isireli Biumaiwai decided to have a go and barged over.

Whanganui were able to wrest back the momentum and when they crossed in the southeast corner for a try that featured a sumptuous midfield offload from former Scots College and Ories prop Jonty Bird it seemed they had found a way back into the match.

But the Bush kept them at bay, through a combination of timely turnovers, midfield breaks, and the visitors conceding a scrum penalty on their own ball at an attacking scrum. Stephenson knocked over two penalties to push the margin to 17, and although Whanganui had the last say, the 80th minute try was mere consolation and didn’t garner them even a bonus point.

In Levin, Horowhenua-Kapiti went down 31-45 to North Otago with the game effectively over inside half an hour. The Old Golds bolted out to a 31-0 lead before the hosts responded with two before the break, but North Otago pushed it out to 45-19 before the Nua again finished with a late pair, the first of which got them what could be an important bonus point.

Elsewhere, leaders King Country all but assured themselves top spot with a 59-12 win over Buller in Taumarunui. Mid-Canterbury are second after they beat West Coast 34-5, and it was a thriller in Paeroa, as Thames Valley outlasted South Canterbury 43-42

The sixth match of the day had no impact on the playoffs but plenty of points at Whakarua Park in Ruatoria, with Poverty Bay winning the local derby against East Coast by the scoreline of 69-43.

Points: King Country (32), Mid-Canty (28), Thames Valley (27), North Otago (27) | South Canty (23), Horo-Kap (23), Whanganui (22), Wai-Bush (20) | Poverty Bay (13), Buller (13), East Coast (7), West Coast (5)

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The rugby for Wellington teams continues on Sunday at Wellington Stadium with the Wellington Lions seeking a glorious final home match win over the Waikato Mooloo at 2.05pm, preceded by the Wellington Pride hosting the Tasman She-Mako and hunting for a home Farah Palmer Cup Division 2 semi-final the following week.