Hurricanes Finals Day tomorrow

Above: Right wing Fereti Soloa scored a hat-trick of tries for the Wellington U18s last Saturday at Westpac Stadium. The U18s are one of three Wellington teams playing in Palmerston North tomorrow on Hurricanes Youth Council Finals Day.

Matches tomorrow at a glance:

Hurricanes U18 and U20 finals in Palmerston North:

• U20 Division A final: Wellington v Manawatu, 1.00 pm
• U18 Division A final: Wellington v Hawke’s Bay, 1.30 pm
• U18 Division B final: Wellington Centurions v Wairarapa Bush, 1.30 pm

Women's NPC Round 6:

• Wellington Pride v Auckland Storm at Auckland, 12.30 pm

Non-competition Development match:

• Wellington Development v Bay of Plenty Development at Taupo, 2.00 pm

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The representative rugby focus turns to Palmerston North tomorrow for the Hurricanes Youth Council U20 and U18 Finals Day - with three Wellington representative teams in action.

The Wellington U18s and Centurions will contest the U18 division A and B finals and the Wellington U20s will play in the U20 division A final on the main ground at FMG Stadium.

In the U18A final, the Wellington side plays Hawke’s Bay, whom they beat 31-20? in pool play three weeks ago. Wellington warmed up for this final with a 62-0 romp over Manawatu at Westpac Stadium last Saturday, while Hawke’s Bay tipped over Taranaki 44-35 in the other match. Taranaki defeated Wellington 25-17 in the previous round, so this final promises to be close.

In the U18B final, being played at the same time on an adjacent field, the U18 Centurions play Wairarapa Bush. This is a replay of last week’s final pool game won by the Centurions 34-0. The Centurions will want to keep their line intact for the fourth consecutive week following previous wins over Wanganui 65-0 and Horowhenua Kapiti 51-0.

The U20s are also unbeaten in their section, beating Manawatu 36-19, Taranaki 17-8 and Hawke’s Bay 25-23, and they meet home side Manawatu in their final. Since losing to Wellington, Manawatu took the scalps of Hawke’s Bay 31-26 and Taranaki 31-12.

The other Hurricanes age grade final to decide the winner of the U20B division is in Wanganui between the home side and Poverty Bay.

The final Hurricanes Youth Council U18 and U20 points tables were:

• U18A: Wellington 10; Hawke’s Bay 10; Taranaki 9; Manawatu 0
• U18B: Wellington Centurions 15; Wairarapa-Bush 10; Wanganui 5; Horowhenua-Kapiti 0
• U20A: Wellington 13; Manawatu 10; Hawke’s Bay 8; Taranaki 0
• U20B: Wanganui 14; Poverty Bay 9; Horowhenua-Kapiti 6
  

The Wellington Development and Wellington Pride sides are also heading north for their matches.

The Wellington Development side meets their Bay of Plenty counterparts on neutral soil at Owen Delaney Park in Taupo, while the Wellington Pride travels to Auckland for their round six Women’s NPC encounter.

The Wellington Development side, coming off a 37-33 win over Canterbury Development in their last match a fortnight ago, plays a BoP Development team that finished sixth of seven teams in the recently completed Northern Region Men’s B competition.

BoP headed just the Auckland Juniors in this seven match round-robin competition, who they beat 46-21 a fortnight ago. Last Saturday they almost stopped second placed finisher Counties Manukau B (losing 25-31). Other defeats in recent weeks have been to Waikato B (10-33), Northland B (31-38), Taranaki B (19-58), competition winners Auckland B (24-29) and North Harbour B (5-27).

The Wellington Pride will step on to Western Springs Stadium to face the home side the Auckland Storm realistically needing a bonus point win to keep their Women’s NPC chances alive.

In Auckland, the Pride face the team that has won the Women’s NPC every year since the competition’s inception in 1999 except 2006 when the Pride took the honours. Auckland are stacked with power and pace and are the benchmark team despite suffering a rare loss to Otago recently and being in the unaccustomed position of second on the points table.

Coached by former Black Fern Anna Richards and with 13 Black Fern internationals, the Storm will be highly motivated to see off Wellington’s challenge and clinch a final berth in a fortnight.

Teamlists for Saturday (subject to change):

Wellington Development (playing XV):

1. Donal McNamara; 2. Eugene Smith; 3. Whetu Henry; 4. Vaea Fifita; 5. James Wall; 6. Isaac O’Connor; 7. Pau Halafihi; 8. Presley Tufaga; 9. Simon Tevita; 10. Brandyn Laursen; 11. Hayden Whelan; 12. Nick Grigg; 13. Marvin Karawana; 14. James Kusel; 15. Tau Mamea

Wellington Pride:

1. Muteremoana Aiatu (Captain); 2. Patsy Schwalger; 3. Tina Kelemete; 4. Jackie Patea; 5. Sanita Levave; 6. Carol Sio; 7. Aimee Sutorius; 8. Miriam Ready; 9. Agnes Dean; 10. Lizzie Gouldon; 11. Brenda Collins; 12. Vaine Marsters; 13. Maryann Collins; 14. Lekah Leti; 15. Katarina Simpkins. RESERVES: 16. Raylene Lolo; 17. Sharleen Fagalilo; 18. Maryanne Leota; 19. Joanah Ngan-Woo; 20. Acacia Claridge; 21. Fa’asua Makisi, 22. Kauna Lopa

Wellington U20s:

1. Donald Brighouse; 2. Zeke Sopoaga; 3. Etimani Sului; 4. Zac Power; 5. Taamilo V’a; 6. James O’Reilly; 7. Gabriel Papuni; 8. Cameron Ross; 9. Luke Campbell; 10. Jackson Garden-Bachop; 11. Andrew Ellis; 12. Tyler Tane; 13. Aukuso Tuitavia; 14. Sosi Tuimavavae; 15. Andrew Wells. RESERVES: 16. Adam Stewart; 17. Joshua To’omaga; 18. Nick Harrison; 19. James Prescott; 20. Issac Marriner; 21. Colin Leilua-Toilolo; 22. Tuga Mativa

Wellington U18s:

1. Joel Hintz; 2. Lewis Ngatai; 3. Anthony Mamea; 4. Lui Okeamoa-Luamanu; 5. James Blackwell; 6. Jack Ross; 7. Sam Dawson; 8. Henry Stowers (Captain); 9. TJ Va’a; 10. Chase Tiatia; 11. Aleks Noble-Campbell; 12. William Tufui; 13. Francis Tanuvasa; 14. Fereti Soloa; 15. Josh Robertson-Weepu. RESERVES: 16. Tony Coburn; 17. Andrew Mamea; 18. Vern Sofeso; 19. Peter Pili; 20. Jarrod Adams; 21. George Boyhan; 22. Luke Coulston

Wellington U18 Centurions:

1. Hezron Nuru; 2. Jordan Leuluali; 3. Tua Vaai; 4. Anthony Pettett; 5. James Zino; 6. John Tufele; 7. Thomas Kimber; 8. Sam Wasley; 9. Simon Malu; 10. Logan Henry; 11. Keanu Moran; 12. Troy Mehr; 13. Raysharn Edmonds-Lama; 14. Reid McCashin; 15. Jesse Weenink. RESERVES: 16. Richard Guttenbeil; 17. Izach Frankli; 18. Quaid Martin-Laumatia; 19; Benhami Liua’ana; 20. Josh Svensen; 21. Fredrich Keil; 22. TBC