Points aplenty in region's Div 1 fixtures 

By Nick Jeffrey [Stuff]

Scoreboard attendants were kept busy on Saturday as Nelson and Marlborough’s club rugby teams put on try-fests across the four Division One Sub-Union games. Marist, Wanderers and Kahurangi all recorded comfortable wins in The Car Company Nelson competition while Renwick outlasted Waitohi to win a thriller in the only Motorworld Marlborough contest.

Marist kicked off the round and made it four on the trot with a comfortable 42-22 win over Waimea Old Boys in the early game at Trafalgar Park. The defending Stuff Tasman Trophy champions took control early and jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, before adding two more tries before halftime to take a 28-10 lead into the break.

When Ra Witehira crossed shortly after the resumption the game was effectively over as a contest. Marist coach Shawn Begg was happy with the forward progress his side is making week-to-week.

“It was an emotional day for us and the club with the Francis Monopoli Cup on the line so to get the win and put the trophy in the clubrooms was very pleasing. The scoreboard may have shown we were dominant but it was patchy with a lot of whistle which made it hard to get any sort of continuity going,” Begg said.

Wanderers turned in its most impressive effort of the young season with a dominant second half effort to run away with a 55-5 win over Stoke. The two sides scored a try a-piece in the first half with the boot of Luca Roden proving the difference, kicking five first half penalties to give Wanderers a 22-5 half time lead. Five second half tries saw Wanderers crack the half century, pleasing coach Ethan Reuben.

“We always knew we’d have a challenge on our hands with Stoke who never give up so we focused on keeping to our structures and came away with the result,” Reuben said.

Kahurangi was equally impressive in its 50-12 victory over winless Nelson. Five first half tries kept the scoreboard ticking over for a 33-5 half time lead with another three in the final 25 minutes putting the icing on a dominant performance for Brendon Smith’s men.

“It’s hard to be disappointed when you bring up 50 points but it was a scrappy affair and the boys weren’t happy with some aspects of the game. Turnovers killed us but when we did manage to hold on to the ball we were able to make inroads which was very pleasing,” Smith said.

In Marlborough, a late Michael Dillon penalty goal, eight minutes from time, broke a 32-all deadlock to give Renwick victory over Waitohi and set up a winner-take all contest with Central this weekend.

Waitohi had the best of the early going, crossing three times in the opening half hour to jump out to a 19-6 lead before Cameron Hasford dotted down for Renwick right on the stroke of halftime. A Falaula Fotu Moala double after the break knotted the game together at 25-all before the two sides traded converted tries leaving Dillon to kick Renwick home late.   

Division Two also kicked off on Saturday with wins for Waimea Old Boys, Marist, Stoke, Riwaka and Wanderers in the Nelson Bays competition while Waitohi brought up three figures in a 101-0 win over Harlequins in the only game played in Marlborough.

POINTS TABLE: 

THE CAR COMPANY – DIVISION 1 NELSON: Marist 19, Kahurangi 16, Stoke 12, Wanderers 10, Waimea Old Boys 1, Nelson 0.

MOTORWORLD – DIVISION 1 MARLBOROUGH: Central 5, Renwick 5, Waitohi 2.

Article added: Tuesday 26 April 2022