U85kg and First Grade semi-finals and representative rugby underway today

Above: Wellington Axemen centre Ratu Karamaena breaks through to score a decisive second half try today in his side’s U85kg Division 1 semi-final win over Eastbourne.

There were U85kg Division 1 and 2 and First Grade Division 1 and 2 semi-finals today, while representative rugby got underway with the Wellington U19s, Wellington Pride and Wellington Samoans (pre-season) in action.

Wellington to meet Avalon in U85kg Division 1 Final

Top qualifiers the Wellington Axemen will meet the Avalon Wolves in next Saturday’s U85kg Division 1 Paul Potiki Shield final.

In today’s semi-finals, the Axemen beat Eastbourne 38-17 on Kilbirnie Park 2 and Avalon defeated the Tawa Titans 16-3 at Fraser Park.

At Klibirnie 2, Eastbourne were fast out of the blocks and two consecutive raids saw them kick penalties and take a 6-0 lead.

The Axemen responded with their first try of the match in the right corner, cutting the gap to 5-6. Eastbourne kicked a third penalty, but the Axemen continued to score their points in tries and first five-eighth Matt Day then skipped through to put them ahead 12-9 after about 25 minutes.

Eastbourne kicked a fourth penalty, but Wellington added further points in the first half to a Day penalty and a try from a forwards drive to tighthead prop Callum Chapman. Wellington led 20-12 at halftime.

With a strong lineout and dangerous midfield, Wellington dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half, but organised Eastbourne defence kept them out. Eventually, the dam burst and centre Ratu Karamaena sliced through to put them ahead 25-12.

Day kicked a penalty to extend the lead to 28-12, before tries to second five-eighth Anaru Grant and left wing David Pasquet put them ahead 38-12.

Eastbourne competed to the end and were rewarded with an intercept and runaway try on fulltime.

Meanwhile, across the road at Evans Bay Park, Marist St Pat’s Red beat the Wests Roosters 17-6 in one U85kg Division 2 semi-final, while the Upper Hutt Rams tipped over the OBU Bunnies 30-19 at Te Whaea.

First Grade

Next weekend’s First Grade Division 1 Johnsonville Centennium Cup final will see rivals the HOBM Barbarians and the Petone Brotherhood meet.

In today’s semi-finals, HOBM beat OBU 17-10 at home, while the Brotherhood defeated the Northern United Usos 15-12 at Porirua Park in a gripping semi-final that saw Petone break a deadlock and win in the 99th minute after extra time was needed.

In the Paul Donaghue Division 2 competition, the Avalon Wolves and the Johnsonville Cripples will meet, after the Wolves defeated Tawa 22-19 today and the Cripples beat the Upper Hutt Rams Pirates 27-3.

Wellington U19s fight for first up win in Central Region Shield

Wellington’s Under 19 campaign for 2017 started with an abrasive 26-12 win over the inaugural Hurricanes Heartland Under 20 Team, in Palmerston North today.

Played in soggy conditions under blue skies at the Sport & Rugby Institute, Wellington scored four tries to two, two in each half without ever quelling a committed Hurricanes Heartland selection, which had only one training session as a team, the day before the match.

The Hurricanes Heartland side started strongly, with Bradley Griffith (Wairarapa-Bush) pushing an early penalty attempt wide after his team dominated territory and possession for the first five minutes. However, a lucky intercept pass which was burgled by Wellington’s Esi Komaisavai (Northern United) opened the scoring of the afternoon after ten minutes, with a try under the posts which Komaisavai converted.

A storming try to titanic prop Pasi Uluilakepa (Petone), converted by Komaisavai, put the Wellingtonians 14 points ahead after 20 minutes, despite the Hurricanes Heartland team have plenty of possession and territory. The home team then seized the initiative five minutes before half-time when speedy winger Harry Symes (Wanganui) out-sprinted the cover defence to score a try which was converted by Griffith.

The half-time score of 14-7 demonstrated that either team could take the match, with the Darren Larsen coached Hurricanes Heartland team forced to absorb huge pressure at the start of the second-half, before Regan Sword (MSP) crossed the line (converted by Komaisavai), to take the score out to 21-7.

The wet ground suited the props in the tight exchanges and it was Sam Siaosi (Wairarapa-Bush) for the Hurricanes Heartland side who scored the next unconverted try, after a patient build-up with repeated phases inside Wellington’s 22 metre line. However, Wellington’s Grayson Whitman

(MSP) was to have the last word scoring their bonus point unconverted try with 5 minutes to play.
While Wellington will be disappointed with the number of penalties they conceded in the tackle/ruck area, the Hurricanes Heartland team will be confident of a big performance against Manawatu next weekend.

In the other Central Region Shield match played today in Napier, Manawatu Under 19 defeated Hawkes Bay Under 19, 26-5.

In Ashurst, the Wellington Pride beat the Hawke’s Bay Tuis 55-24 in a pre-season Women’s NPC match. The Pride won nine tries to four. The Pride play Manawatu next weekend in Palmerston North in their second pre-season fixture.

In Napier, the Wellington Samoans men's side beat the Hawke's Bay Samoans 29-19.