Wins for Wellngton Pride, U20s and U18s

Above: Wellington Pride hooker Sharleen Fagalilo scores one of her two first half tries in today’s fifth round Women’s NPC match, won 42-29 by the Pride.

The Wellington U18s and U20s booked their places in next week’s Hurricanes Youth Council U18 and U20 division A finals with contrasting wins today.

The Wellington U18s beat the Manawatu U18s 62-0 in a one-sided performance at Westpac Stadium, while the Wellington U20s pipped their Hawke’s Bay counterparts 25-23 at Porirua Park.

The Wellington Under 18’s rebounded from a poor performance last Saturday to thrash the Manawatu Under 18’s 62-0 in an ITM Cup curtain raiser at the Westpac Stadium.

Wellington burst out of the gate to lead 38-0 at halftime and added four tries in a scrappy second-half.

The Wellington forwards completely overwhelmed their smaller opponents.

Wellington secured at least three tightheads and employed their heavier ball runners effectively.

Captain Henry Stowers scored three tries with a powerhouse performance and the Mamea twins, Anthony and Andrew, from the bench, were often a nightmare for the Manawatu defence.??

In the backs the halfback and first-five combination of Luke Coulston and Chase Tiatia made a noticeable difference from last week’s pair.

Coulston’s pass was sharp and accurate while Tiatia’s incisive running game and tricky passing created far more room for a fast and powerful Wellington backline to flourish.

Fereti Soloa on the wing was perhaps Wellington’s best back. He snatched a 90-meter intercept in the first-half and always looked likely when he touched the ball.

Earlier in the day, the Wellington U20s trailed defending champions Hawke’s Bay 3-6 at halftime. In a stop-start first 40 minutes, Wellington scored through a lone Tyler Tane penalty.

The Junior Lions struck after halftime with two quick tries, to outside backs Sosi Tuimavavae and Aukuso Tuitava to take a 13-6 lead.

Hawke’s Bay responded with a converted try and it was 13-13 after 57 minutes.

Wellington scored again through replacement front rower Jacob Taituave, converted by Tane, to lead 20-13. But once more Hawke’s Bay closed the gap, kicking a penalty to close the gap to 20-16.

Wellington Fullback Andrew Wells scored with under 10 minutes left, giving Wellington a 25-16 lead. Once more, the Bay came back and scored a converted try and they trailed by two points.

The home side held on though, reversing a 17-23 loss to Hawke’s Bay in last year’s U20 final.

In other matches, the Wellington Centurions defeated Wairarapa Bush U18 34-0 in the Hurricanes region U18 B division and the Wellington Samoan Schools side beat the Wanganui U20s 21-17 in the Hurricanes region U20 B division.

Wellington Under U18: 62 (Fereti Sola 3, Henry Stowers 3, Chase Tiatia, William Tufui, Sam Dawson, Peter Pili; Josh Robertson-Weepu 4 con; Fereti Sola 2 con) beat Manawatu Under 18: 0. HT: 38-0

Wellington U20: 25 (Sosi Tuimavavae, Aukuso Tuitava, Jacob Tautiave, Andrew Wells? tries; Tyler Tane con, pen) beat Hawke's Bay 20 HT: 3-6.

Wellington Pride v Counties Manukau Heat

The Wellington Pride sealed an exciting fifth round Women’s NPC match, by scoring a converted try on fulltime to beat Counties Manukau 42-29 at the Petone Recreation Ground this afternoon.

The runaway try at the end was some relief, after Counties Manukau had scored two quickfire tries late in the match to close the deficit to 35-29.

This was after the Pride had wrestled control early in the second half, once again through their hard working forward pack, and halfback Anges Dean had scored what proved to be the winning try after her opposite Tuala Lealuaiialii was sinbinned in front of her line.

Up to that point, Dean’s try was Wellington’s sixth try of the match, taking them to a 35-15 lead with 20 minutes remaining.

Fast forwarding to the frantic final couple of minutes at the end and with Wellington holding a 6-point lead, the home side could have been left ruing the 16 points that first five-eighth Lizzie Goulden had missed. After banging them over from all angles last week, Goulden had missed five conversions and two first half penalties.

The Pride had led 15-10 at halftime, on the back of three unconverted tries, including a first half double to hooker Sharlene Fagalilo. Ironically two of these tries came directly after Goulden penalty misses.

Her first attempt hit the bar, Counties Manukau failed to clear in a hurry and instead won a defensive scrum. Picking up from last week, Wellington won a tighthead, the forwards drove for the line and captain Muteremoana Aiatu came up with the opening try.

Counties Manukau briefly re-took the lead when their first five-eighth Arihiana Marino wrong footed Wellington flanker Aimee Sutorius and darted through a hole in centre field for a seven-pointer, before some good running by Pride hooker Fagalilo and centre Mary Anne Collins led to a second penalty attempt.

This time Goulden missed left and the Heat went deep with their 22 re-start. But only as far as Collins who produced a powerful Jerry-like burst back up into the 22, leading to a try to Fagalilo that evened up the ledger at 10-10.

Next the Pride launched a free-flowing attack. Swinging the ball across one side of the field and back the other way, wing Lekah Leti was just cut down going for a try. But the Pride won a free-kick from the ensuing Counties Manukau defensive scrum and hooker Fagalilo crashed over for her brace.

The second half was just as entertaining, with three further players completing braces for the match. Aiatu, replacement fullback Katarina Simpkins (for the Pride) and openside flanker Aroha Savage (for the Heat) each scored two tries.

Now playing with the breeze at their backs, Goulden kicked a penalty and the Pride went ahead 18-10.

The Pride then scored their bonus point try through captain Aiatu, off a lineout drive in the corner, and their fifth when replacement fullback Katarina scorched into the backline from an attacking scrum to make it 28-10.

Counties Manukau quickly re-grouped and came back with a try to Savage. But the Pride extended their lead to 20 points when halfback Dean darted through.

However, the Heat weren’t cooked.

Reduced to 14 players, they scored twice through their two best players, Savage and blindside flanker Rawinia Everitt, and trailed 29-35 with time almost up.

They pressed again, but the Pride won a relieving penalty and cleared for touch. The Heat got their hands on the ball one last time from near halfway and went to launch a long-range assault. The ball spilled free in midfield and Simpkins sprinted away to score the Pride’s last try. Goulden saved her best until last, nailing the sideline conversion, and the Pride had a 42-29 win in the bank.

Their last two games are against Auckland and then Canterbury, so with another improved performance they can trouble those teams.

Women’s NPC Round 5: Wellington Pride 42 (Sharleen Fagalilo 2; Muteremoana Aiatu 2; Katarina Simkins 2; Agnes Dean tries; Lizzie Goulden pen, 2 con) beat Counties Manukau Heat 29 (Aroha Savage 2, Rawinia Everitt, Arihiana Marino tries; Marino pen, 3 con). HT: Wellington 15-10