Raetihi rugby

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 590, 13 June 1995, Page 16

Raetihi rugby

By

Amiria 1

Teki

Raetihi beat Wanganui Boys College Old Boys at home on Saturday, their first win in four weeks. Raetihi and Boys College were out to win as both have been down lately. Both played defensively and in attacking mode but WBCOB seemed to have more pace and their passes more accurate at first. Raetihi came back tack-

ling fairly well, particularly Tom Rawiri, Paul Trow, Brendon Kavanagh, with spells of good kicking by Ngopera Pine. Stu Ngatai played well with planned moves from the lineouts working well. But failure from the backs to get up quickly in support of the speedsters let Raetihi down in the first quarter or so. A loose ball was swooped up by WBCOB number 15 and a 30 metre run almost gave the first try. But he was tackled well thanks to the brilliant speed of Moko Wihare. Soon after WBCOB put points on the board with a tremendous try by Shane Foster, No8. No 12 converted making the score 70. A scrum infringement in Raetihi ' s patch gave Raetihi a goal opportunity right under the post but it mi ssed . An up and down match favoured WBCOB for a time but some good running by James Renata kept the game alive, bringing it back to Raetihi where some determined play gave Ngopera Pine, centre, a break and over he went for a great try. Unconverted, the score at half time 7-5. Terry Taumata, No 1 6 for Raetihi, replaced Edward T aura, Thomas W aara came in as half-back and Paddy Chambers came on as lock after the break. A few minutes into the second half Darren McDonnell broke away for a brilliant try but unfortunately Thomas Waara was unable to convert it, leaving the score at 10-7. Raetihi was strong in the rucks and mauls and continued to play with driving commitment. Tom Rawiri, No 3, dotted down a beaut try right under the post which Tom Waara converted. (Score 17-7). From the kick-off a penalty went Raetihi ' s way and Thomas Waara kicked, just missing to the right. Thirty minutes in, Buck

Herron replaced Stu Ngatai pulled up with a tender hamstring. Another try went to Tom Rawiri which Thomas Waara converted, taking it to 24-7. WBCOB seemed to slow in their defence although they kept trying. At one point they put Raetihi under pressure with Thomas Waara trying to run the ball from the college goal line. Diving on the ball, he managed to save the situation/. A kick to touch on the full gave Raetihi the line out and brilliant play and good support saw Thomas dummy step and run in the final try, converted, taking the score to 31-7. A better second half saw good play by Raetihi ' s tight five and better ball skills by Terry Taumata, Moko Wihare, Ngopera Pine and Stu Ngatai. Player of the day was Moko Wihare with Tom Rawiri and Brendan Kavanagh also close on points. For college Shane Foster, Stewart Scoon and Michael Tanner all played well.