Morrinsville Sports' dream comes true

BY EVAN PEGDEN

The fairytale finish to the Waikato club rugby season that Morrinsville Sports dared to wish for came true and exploded into emotional scenes at Waikato Stadium on Saturday night.

Morrinsville created history by beating Fraser-Tech 26-18 to claim the Waikato Breweries Shield for the first time in the premier division grand final.

It was a fitting spectacle, featuring six lead changes, two dropped goals and drama aplenty before the visitors hit the front for the final time with a converted try in the 56th minute and then Dwayne Sweeney sealed it with close-range penalty goal right on fulltime.

The man who scored the winning try off the back of a 5m scrum, inspirational skipper and No8 Alex Bradley was swept up in the emotional scenes that followed, players swamped by hundreds of supporters who rushed on to the field and then the chant went up from the team as they had their photos taken with the Shield "Styvie, Styvie, Styvie" for their late coach Darrin Stevenson who had died suddenly just two weeks earlier.

"It was just outstanding," said Bradley as he managed to tear himself away from the chaotic scenes briefly.

"The boys have put it in right from the start. Before Christmas and just followed through with it.

"We've learnt to gel together as a team and just play solid rugby through our hard play.

"There's no superstars in our team and this was a deserved win by my boys.

"They've played well."

Bradley said it had been very difficult to keep the players' emotions under control in the two weeks since Stevenson had died but they had found the right balance.

Waikato Breweries Shield

Morrinsville Sports26

Fraser-Tech18

A superior kicking game enabled Morrinsville to play the territory game they wanted and Fraser-Tech often got trapped into trying to play too much rugby in their own half.

But with Morrinsville missing five penalty kicks at goal many of them difficult ones and the Tech defence scrambling well it took a herculean effort from the more experienced visiting pack, led by the likes of Bradley and Chresten Davis to get them home.

Damon McKinnon, who scored the first try with a touch-and-go dive for the right corner, and Andrew Greene showed their control and experience behind the Morrinsville pack, Fijian flyers Vesi Rauluni and Ben Titoko, whose intercept try gave his team a 13-10 half-time lead, were instrumental in the backline.

And the icing on top was delivered by Chiefs utility back Dwayne Sweeney who played most of the second half and added vital experience and the last eight points, including a second dropped goal, after Greene's one to open the scoring.

Tries from impressive young backs Joe Perawiti and Glen Robertson and the boot of another young player in cool-headed first five Trent Nattrass kept Tech in the game, as did some equally good work by their pack with hooker Vern Kamo, lock Peniasi Iowane, young loosies Adrian Hall and Joe Scheres and outside backs Roimata Hansell-Pune and Tyron Child.

They produced some, at times, spectacular break-out attacks.

But in the end Morrinsville's greater maturity as a team and better tactical execution made the difference.

"We sort of got sucked into playing how they wanted to play. We were very mindful of them playing a territorial game but we still got tricked into playing deep in our territory and got turned over at vital times," Tech coach Nick Holten said.

"It's not how we wanted to play and our kicking game was poor.

"The quality of their ball was better than our ball and they just seemed a bit hungrier than we were," Holten said.

Waikato Draught Plate

Hamilton Marist 32

Otorohanga 26

A strong start on a heavy track paved the way for Marist at Marist Park, Chris Clarkin reports.

The home side were always in control, picking up four first-half tries to lead 24-7 at the break.

But Otorohanga were able to stay in touch in the second half, picking up three second-half tries, highlighted by a brace from wing Solo Korovata.

In the end the early platform set up by Marist proved too much of a challenge for the visitors.

Lion Cup

University19

Te Rapa11

University finished the stronger in the Waikato Stadium curtain-raiser to come from 11-9 down in the last seven minutes to end Te Rapa's unbeaten season and claim the Lion Cup for the promotion-relegation division top four.

A five-out-of-seven goal-kicking record from University fullback Bauro Kairoai certainly helped the winners, three of those kicks coming into the breeze in the first half to gave the students a 9-5 half-time lead.

Te Rapa rued several lost opportunities hot on attack in the first spell and it was not until just before the break that they created a simple two-on-one overlap for fullback Jordan Cameron to put left wing Noa Vaka in for the match's first try.

Young first-five Whanake Whare kicked a close-range penalty goal 18 minutes into the second half to put Te Rapa within one point of University at 9-8 and five minutes later kicked another from further out to put his side in front for the first time.

Kairoai kicked the varsity side back in front, 12-11, in the 74th minute after right wing Sonny Valevale was yellow-carded for a high tackle. First five Rickardt van Dyk then strolled through an exhausted defence to score between the posts with time up on the clock. The conversion gave University an eight point winning margin.

Waikato Jubilee Trophy

Hinuera47

Southern United6

Hinuera easily won the Jubilee Trophy, at home on Wealleans Park, after outplaying Southern United in the promotion-relegation bottom-four final, John Holt writes.

The home side controlled most aspects of the game and eventually ran away with the match.

Centre Nigel Ross was the Hinuera backline's most incisive runner on the day and scored two of the winning side's seven tries.

Opponents Southern, who fielded a number of B-team players, had the look of side a trifle battle weary after a long season of rugby.

Rowe Cup

Hamilton Marist B20

Hamilton Old Boys B8

At Fred Jones Park, the Hamilton Marist side beat Hamilton Old Boys in the premier B final to take out the Rowe Cup.

Jackson Nightingale, Nick Evans and Dax Dawai scored Marist's three tries.

James Walsh added a conversion and a penalty goal to complement a sound, all-round display from him at first five-eighths for the winning side.

WAIKATO CLUB FINALS

Premier A Waikato Breweries Shield, at Waikato Stadium: Morrinsville Sports 26 (Damon McKinnon, Ben Titoko, Alex Bradley tries; Dwayne Sweeney con, drop, pen; Andrew Greene drop) Fraser-Tech 18 (Joe Perawiti, Glen Robertson tries; Trent Nattrass con, 2 pens). HT: 13-10.

Waikato Draught Plate, at Marist Pk: Hamilton Marist 32 (Lionel Wairau, Nick Seymour, Semiti Guanavou, Joe Reynolds, Luke Redgate tries; Reynolds 2 cons, pen) Otorohanga 26 (Solo Korovata 2, John Jackson, James Hemara tries; Dean Church 2, Ross Fenton cons). HT: 24-7.

Promotion-Relegation A: Lion Cup, at Waikato Stadium: University 19 (Rickardt van Dyk try; Bauro Kairoai con, 4 pens) Te Rapa 11 (Noa Vaka try; Whanake Whare 2 pens). HT: 9-5.

Waikato Jubilee Trophy, at Wealleans Pk: Hinuera 47 (Nigel Ross 2, Rhys Williams 2, Josh Hawke, Craig Bigham, James Neal tries; Benji Olesen 5, Chris Henderson cons) Southern United 6 (Brad Boss 2 pens).

Premier B Rowe Cup, at Fred Jones Pk: Hamilton Marist B 20 Hamilton Old Boys B 8.

- © Fairfax NZ News