Bishop Viard, St Mary’s and Silverstream win local sevens tournaments

Above: The St Pat’s Silverstream sevens side that won today’s Hutt Cup 7s tournament. Photo by Wareham Sports Media

St Pat’s Silverstream won the Hutt Cup 7s and local school Bishop Viard College and St Mary’s College won the boys and girls sections of the annual Derek Wootton Memorial Trust tournament at Porirua Park in local events today played in difficult conditions.

Heavy morning rain forced the cancellation of the WRFU club Satellite Sevens event on the top fields of Porirua Park, but the Wootton 7s went ahead as planned, albeit with some disruption early on owing to a couple of teams failing to attend.

A number of games were played over a few hours, proving good build-up and fitness for the Condor 7s on Labour Day Monday at Naenae College.

Defending Wellington Condor Champions St Mary’s College defeated Aotea College 29-15 in the girls final and Bishop Viard College upstaged this year’s 15s champions Wellington College 10-7 in the boys final.

Across in the Hutt Valley, Silverstream headed Scots College, coming back from a 0-10 deficit at halftime to win the final of the six-team tournament 12-10.

Meanwhile, in Palmerston North the third annual Hurricanes Youth Council Secondary Schools sevens tourney was played.

Hastings Boys' High School successfully defended the boys title while New Plymouth Girls' High School, invited from the Chiefs region, captured honours in the girls section.

For the first time a tournament team and MVP was named.
 
Hastings Boys' High School beat St. Pats Town 33-22 in an exciting boys final.

A hat-trick from player of the tournament Kini Naholo won Hastings the match.

In a close first-half each school scored two tries each as Hastings led 14-12 at the interval.

Naholo snaffled a loose ball and dashed 50-metres early in the second-half to extend Hastings’ lead to seven. New Zealand Schools representative and shock absentee from the tournament team Lincoln McClutchie then scored a 55-metre try of his own to put Hastings out of reach. Town finished with spirit and the outstanding Bill Procter added a second try after scoring a beauty in the first-half supporting a Xavier English steal and break.

Earlier Hastings didn't concede a point en route to the decider. Hastings topped the round-robin avoiding a cross over fixture. They beat Palmerston North BHS (White) 43-0 and Rongotai College 37-0. In the semi-finals Feilding High School was dispatched four tries to nil. Naholo crossed the chalk six times and Danny Toala four times as Hastings scored 18 unanswered tries.

Both Palmerston North BHS selections were unbeaten in Pool play with the superior White outfit eliminating their Blue counterparts in cross over play. St. Pats Town (Blue) were the other standouts. In Pool play Town (Blue) beat Freyberg High School 45-0 and Feilding High School 10-5 in a keenly fought tussle. In the semi-finals Town galloped away from Palmerston North (White) in the second-half to win 40-5. Procter scored four tries across the games.

The Rongotai College v Lindisfarne College cross over match was a thriller with Lindisfarne prevailing 17-14. Two quick tries by impressive Fijian Loqo Waqanidrola in the first-half was sufficient to withstand a late Rongotai fightback.  

In the 5th v 6th playoff, Rongotai returned serve to win convincingly. William Heather and Sen Chut scored two tries each.
 
Boys Tournament Team
Danny Toala (Hastings BHS)
Trent Hape (Hastings BHS)
Kini Naholo (Hastings BHS)
Billy Procter (St. Pats Town)
Zane Dallinger (Feilding HS)
Sam Baylis (St. Pats Town)
Pena Va'a (Rongotai College)

The competing boys teams were: Hastings BHS, St. Pats Town (Blue & White), Palmerston North BHS (White & Blue), Rongotai College, Lindisfarne College, Feilding High School, Freyberg High School.
 
Eventual finalists New Plymouth Girls HS and Manukura School provided early evidence of their excellence with an engaging clash in Pool Play in the girls section.

New Plymouth held onto to win 12-10. New Plymouth started strongly scoring the first two tries, but a brace by Hana Waniaho closed the gap to set up a frantic finish.

In the decider New Plymouth made a similarly decisive start surging to a 19-0 lead at halftime. A feature of Manukura's push to the final was their defence and despite some excellent scramble in the second-half, New Plymouth added a further score to win 26-0.
MVP Brooke Neilson scored two tries and Kayla Henry and Atalya Fakavomoeanga crossed in an impressive display.

New Plymouth scored 35 tries in five games and scored the biggest win of the tournament when they beat Wanganui Girls College 59-0. Henry collected a hat-trick in that clash.

Feilding High School were in a prolific scoring mood racking up 144 points in three pool games. Feilding overpowered Palmerston North GHS (28-0), Cullinane College (59-0) and Freyberg (57-0) but came unstuck to a tenacious Manukura in the semi-finals. The game had to be relocated to a different field while an injured Manukura player who put her body on the line was put in an ambulance. Waniaho scored the telling try in a 10-5 victory.
 
Girls tournament team
Georgia Ponsonby (Feilding HS)
Hana Waniohu (Manukura)
Isabella Rawiri-Wharerau (Manukura)
Brooke Neilson (New Plymouth GHS)
Layla Sae (St. Peter's College)
Mikayla Callaghan (New Plymouth GHS)
Meilini Meo (Wanganui Girls' College)

The Competing girls teams Were: New Plymouth GHS, Manukura School, Feilding High School, St. Peter's College, Palmerston North GHS, Wanganui Girls' College, Freyberg High School.