Wellington U19s overpower North Harbour in Taupo opener

Representative Rugby | 28 September 2014 | Club Rugby

To the casual observer, it would seem that the Wellington U19 team enjoys playing in adverse weather conditions. Following last week's 67 point victory over Hawkes Bay in torrential rain at Porirua Park, today in Taupo the team won their National U19 Quarter-Final fixture by 46 points, playing into the teeth of a freezing southerly gale, colder than this weathered Wellington correspondent has ever experienced during winter in the Capital!

This was a game won by the Wellington scrum, which over-powered their opponents from North Harbour from the first, with four of the team's six tries arising from forward charges based on a superior set-piece. The icing on an icy cake was an almost perfect goal-kicking display by Pakai Turia, who scored 16 points with the boot in gale-force conditions as the southerly swooped over Owen Delaney Park.

The first of Wellington's tries arose from a lengthy burst by open-side Liam Doherty who charged more than 60 metres to score; this was followed by a surge for the try-line by loose-head prop Morgan Poi, with both scores when combined with the goal-kicking of Turia, resulting in Wellington taking an 18 point lead into half-time.

As is sometimes the case in rugby, the team playing into the wind seems to work a little harder. Turning into the wind for the second-half, North Harbour started strongly with repeated attacks on Wellington's try-line which were thwarted by Wellington's very good defensive system. However, unstoppable No. 8 for Wellington, Henry Stowers, put an end to North Harbour's attacks, with a storming run up the middle of the field to start the score-board in the second half.

Five minutes later, a favouable bounce into the arms of Fereti Soloa resulting in the second try of the second-half for Wellington, effectively ending North Harbour's challenge, with Te Ariki Ben-Nicholas also scoring shortly after. Left-Wing Aleks Noble-Campbell had the final say in the game, stepping the North Harbour defence to score under the black dot.

Wellington now meets Auckland in their Graham Mourie Cup Semi-Final Match, on Wednesday.

Wellington, 46 - Tries: Liam Doherty; Morgan Poi; Henry Stowers; Fereti Soloa; Te Ariki Ben-Nicholas; Aleks Noble-Campbell. Conversions: Pakaitore Turia (5). Penalties: Pakaitore Turia (2). North Harbour, 0. HT: 18-0.

In matches involving the other three Hurricanes region qualifiers, Taranaki missed out to Auckland 12-23, and in the Bottom 8 section, Hawke's Bay defeated Auckland B 15-3 and Manawatu earned a good 36-0 win over Northland.

Manawatu and Hawke's Bay will square off in their semi-final on Wednesday. Manawatu beat Hawke's Bay 23-8? when they met a fortnight ago in the Hurricanes Seeding tournament.