Nelson College dominate derby with Waimea Combined
By Jonty Dine [Nelson App]
Connor Wilkins says he was a barrel of nerves as he took the field to replace injured Nelson College first five Niko Barton, only one minute into their match against Waimea Combined on Saturday.
However, Connor soon settled into his rhythm and would amass a whopping 35 points as a clinical Nelson hammered Waimea in the UC Championship.
He says despite the spanner that was Barton’s injury, the side stuck to its plan and reaped the rewards.
“We came out and scored some good tries.”
With captain Anton Segnar returning to the openside, College were all class at Sports Park in Motueka and ran riot over their neighbours with some scintillating attack to rack up 90 points in a ruthless display.
The floodgates didn’t take long to open as Nelson raced out to a 12-0 lead with two quick tries to Taya Brown and Ben Faingaanuku.
Moments later, a heavily strapped Segnar made his presence felt with a trademark pilfer to set up his own try after a superb offload by Brown.
Waimea eventually were able to mount some attack as Mackay Springer went in under the bar, but Nelson responded immediately as its offload game began to overwhelm Waimea.
Nelson were gaining metres at will and Tom Thornally stretched the lead further with a typically powerful surge.
Waimea began falling off numerous first up tackles, creating space for Wilkins to cross for a sixth try.
Nelson’s dominance could not be halted, and Brown stormed his way over for a third as Nelson took a 45-7 half-time lead.
The try came at a cost for Nelson however as Luca Inch was assisted from the field with a serious looking leg injury.
Signs didn’t look any better for Waimea after a clearing kick went out on the full to put Nelson right back on attack.
Segnar strolled through some feeble defence to bring up the half century for Nelson.
Another devastating break by the inspirational skipper saw Nelson waltz back into Waimea territory, and Brown was in for his second.
With the result assured, coach Warren Johnson took the opportunity to blood some new combinations with halfback Mason Lund getting a chance to run the ship from first five as the diminutive Justin Yokohama was introduced.
The Japanese scrum half showcased his skills and produced a magical offload leading to replacement prop Jontee Taylor’s try.
A clean break by Daniel Rogers sent winger Connor Johnson away before Waimea gave its fans something to shout about with a second try to Springer.
However, normality soon resumed with Wilkins crossing for his hat-trick.
Lund was then rewarded for his efforts running a superb support line off Johnson as Nelson entered the nineties.
Wilkins says a win over Waimea is always a great feeling.
“It was a pretty good performance from the boys, we were coming up against a few mates from old schools, so it was great to get the win.”
With five wins from six games, Nelson now sit first on the UC Championship table - two points clear of second placed St Bedes and St Andrews.
The side now face a tough road to the finals with three consecutive away games starting with Christchurch Boys on Saturday.
Scorers:
Nelson College 90 (Wilkins 3, Segnar 2, Brown 3, Faingaanuku, Thornally, Johnson, Taylor, Lund, L. Inch tries, Wilkins 10 cons) v Waimea Combined Schools 12 (Springer 2 tries, 1 con)
MBC Falcons unable to contain Rangiora rivals
By Peter Jones [Marlborough App]
The Marlborough Boys’ College First XV slumped to their third consecutive loss on Saturday, succumbing to a dogged and well-drilled Rangiora High School combination 40-26 on the college front field.
MBC, who had previously lost to St Bede’s and Nelson College, trailed by just five points at the break but were unable to take control of the match against a Rangiora outfit who were relentless and hungry throughout.
The Falcons scored the opening and closing tries of the first half, winger Ben O’Sullivan racing clear after five minutes then Tristan Taylor backing up a Lotu Solomona break to dot down just before the break. However, in between, Rangiora scored three times, their backs regularly finding holes in a porous MBC defensive line.
Trailing 14-19 at oranges, with the outcome in the balance, the home side needed to score first in the second spell but were unable to lift their game and conceded two more tries to slip behind 33-14.
Fullback Liam Duncan dotted down to provide some encouragement for the MBC fans before Rangiora flanker Caleb Griffith, a match standout, bagged his side’s sixth try to put the issue beyond doubt. Winger Dartell Rarere had the last say in the match, earning his side a bonus point, but it was pure consolation.
MBC head coach Matt MacDougall said Rangiora “were just everything we knew they would be”.
“They hung on well to every scrap [of possession] and we had a couple of guys that went out of our structure … then we started to drop off tackles and that just snowballed.
“By the time we started to play some decent footy it was just too late. There were no excuses, some of our guys looked pretty tired out there and they just out-ran us.”
Next week MBC take on Christ’s College in Christchurch.
Scores: Rangiora HS 40 (Jermaine Pepe, Del Rio MacKintosh, Josh Neilson, James Mullan, Bayce Leatherby, Caleb Griffith tries, Leatherby 5 con) MBC 26 (Liam Duncan, Dartell Rarere, Ben O’Sullivan, Tristan Taylor, Dylan McManaway 2 con, Keelan Murrell con). HT: 19-14 RHS
Standings: Nelson 26, St Bede’s 24, St Andrew’s 24, CBHS 21, Rangiora 21, Christ’s 19, Lincoln 14, St Thomas 14, MBC 12, Shirley 10, Waimea 9, Roncalli 8, Timaru 5, Mid Canterbury 2.