Wellington U19s standouts in representative rugby

Above: Replacement wing Tai Neli collects a cross kick and goes in to score out wide for the Wellington U19s at Porirua Park today against the Manawatu U19s. 

The Wellington U19s shone brightly on a less than convincing day of rugby results for Wellington’s representative teams in matches around the lower North Island on Saturday.

The Wellington U19s have won the Central Region Shield for the 17th time to qualify top of the Hurricanes region for the National U19 tournament in Taupo next week.

In their third and final fixture of the Central Region tournament, Wellington thrashed Manawatu 64-19 at Jerry Collins Stadium.

Played in clear and mild conditions, Wellington led 26-12 at halftime and finished with a flourish, scoring their last 31 points unanswered.

Manawatu were very hearty, but their lineout was a shambles and they lacked the explosiveness to compete with Cubs for long periods.

Centre Albert Polu created a try shortly after the kick-off, bursting through soft defence at halfway and positioning fullback Todd Svenson under the posts.

Manawatu then enjoyed a long period in possession, but were unable to profit. Svenson had a double after 15 minutes when opposite Awatere Kiwara fumbled embarrassingly close to the line.

To Kiwara’s credit he showed resolve to bounce back and produce some fine moments on both attack and defence.

Halfback Griffin Cluver was the visitors best and his second bust led to a try in the corner for No.8 Powhere Kershaw. Cluver showed all-round quality in an often inspirational display. He wouldn’t have been out of place in a Wellington jersey.

A third Wellington try to hooker Tane Te Aho pushed the locals 19-7 ahead, but Kershaw and Cluver combined again to make it 19-12.

On the stroke of halftime, Polu made another damaging run and scored after a 30-metre carry to make it 26-12.

Wellington lock Caleb Delaney played the entire 80 minutes and impressed with his hustle. A soft try from close range extended Wellington’s advantage to 33-12, but when replacement back Trevhan Ta’ufo’ou randown a chip kick, Manawatu reduced the score to 33-19.

Wellington promoted players from the bench who are expected to start in the first Nationals fixture next Sunday and this showed in the strong finish.

Tai Neli scored a delightful try collecting a Callum Harkin cross-kick. DJ Taoipu ran 20-metres untouched after the same pair advanced Wellington with the same play the phase prior.

Second-five Kienan Higgins was typically creative and finished a dozen phase build up before Delaney had the final say diving on a spillage by Jack Harris.

The National tournament is split into two sections, the Graham Mourie Cup for the top eight teams and the Michael Jones Trophy for the bottom eight teams.

Wellington will play the second-placed Chiefs team next Sunday, Taranaki, who defeated Counties Manukau 37-22 in their third and final seeding match today.

Also in the winner’s box today were the Centurions U18s started their Hurricanes U18 competition with a 57-7 win over the Horowhenua-Kapiti U18s at Playford Park, Levin.

For the Centurions U18s, No. 8 Eparama Sailo scored a hat-trick, left wing Sage Shaw-Tait and replacement back Nathan Tanuvasa scored two tries and lock Liam McAree and left wing Reuben Pukey scored a try each.

Elsewhere, there were defeats for the Wellington Pride and for both the Wellington Maori and Wellington Samoans teams in their Hurricanes Development Shield fixtures.

The Wellington Pride lost 22-25 to the Hawke’s Bay Tuis in their Women’s NPC Farah Palmer Cup season opener in Napier.

The Pride led 10-8 at halftime, but made too many mistakes that put themselves under needless pressure. Tries were scored by captain and halfback Accacia Te Iwimate, blindside flanker Kiri Mei and left wing Sieni Mose. First five-eighth Amanda Rasch kicked a penalty and two penalties.

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Also in Napier, the Wellington Maori side went down 15-96 to the Hawke’s Bay Saracens Development team.

The understrength Maori found themselves down 8-43 at halftime, through a penalty to Greg Mullany and a try to Ryan Imrie. 

The continued to concee points throughout second half unravelled. Former MSP wing Mike Buckley opened the scoring for the home side and went on to score a hat-trick. The Maori stayed commited and No. 8 and captain Mykel Herewini scored their second under the bar near the end. 

In Palmerston North, the Wellington Samoans missed out 31-32 to the Manawatu Development Evergreens.

The Wellington Samoans scored five tries, two to wing Malachai Unasa and one each to captain and No. 8 Lise Soloa, his cousin Fereti Soloa on the wing and loose forward option Matt Peni. First five-eighth Fa’atonu Fili kicked three conversions.

The Samoans shot out to a 14-0 lead and took a 19-10 lead into halftime with the advantage of the wind at their backs. Manawatu scored three tries early in the second half and then held on to their one-point lead over the final several minutes.