\u201cThere\u2019s been lots of changes in our squad each week and we\u2019re still building belief in our young players,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Winger C.J. Mienie was thirsty for work and deserved his two tries. Tighthead prop Lolani Faleiva and experienced lock Angelo Mufana were the best of the Taradale forwards.<\/p>\n
Hastings Rugby and Sports coach Jason Long pointed out that his troops had their chances to win and didn\u2019t believe they were as bad as the 3-1 penalty count against them in the first half suggested. He agreed that they displayed plenty of character to fight back and contribute to an exciting finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose two bonus points will definitely help us too,\u201d Long added.<\/p>\n
Loosehead prop Blake Tresidder and loosies Taufa Kaufononga and Perez Malo were the best of the Hastings forwards. Captain and first five-eighths Jordan Thompson-Dunn and fullback Oscar Sowman were the pick of the backs.<\/p>\n
Havelock North are the only unbeaten side following their 25-14 victory over Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports at Ian MacRae Field.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re tracking nicely. We were able to bring some good cattle off the bench and our scrum dominance worked well for us,\u201d Havelock coach Exham Wichman said.<\/p>\n
Captain and blindside flanker Oscar Ritchie was the villagers\u2019 player of the match. Busy No 8 Tom Brock deserved his spot on the MVP list and Wichman believes hooker Valentino Taito is staking a claim for Magpies selection.<\/p>\n
Second five-eighths Ethan Taylor shone in the villagers backline.<\/p>\n
Pirate midfielder Anaru Paenga-Morgan was taken to hospital by ambulance after being knocked out in a tackle with seven minutes remaining. Pirate player-coach Sheridan Rangihuna hoped he would be available again for the semi-finals, should his lads qualify.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t capitalise on our opportunities and Havelock did,\u201d Rangihuna lamented.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir execution and homework was better than ours. Mental lapses costs us … we need to improve our killer instinct,\u201d Rangihuna added.<\/p>\n
Prop Konradd Newland impressed during his first start of the season as did captain and No 8 Tiaki Fabish before departing for New Zealand Universities team duty.<\/p>\n
Nash Cup winners Napier Old Boys Marist (NOBM) returned to the winning path with a 31-24 victory over Napier Technical at Whitmore Park. <\/p>\n
The Green Machine benefited from the return of player-coach Ellery Wilson who missed the previous week\u2019s loss to Pirate as he was attending a reunion in Christchurch. Wilson played first five-eighths in the second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe physicality from both teams on both sides of the ball proved how good and how close this competition is going to be,\u201d NOBM assistant coach Matt Wyatt said.<\/p>\n
His blindside flanker Kane Ngawhare and substitute hooker Reilly Hannan were again full of authority. Connor Cashman was enterprising during stints in both midfield positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a case of down to the wire but not quite for us,\u201d Texans manager Cyril Whitburn lamented.<\/p>\n
The hosts led 19-17 at halftime and the score was 24-24 when the Texans conceded a late penalty try. Props Kianu Kereru-Symes, who scored two tries, and Nik Patumaka provided plenty of grunt in the Texans engine room.<\/p>\n
Loosies Liam Udy-Johns and Donovan Mataira were busy and centre Jaziah Symons was the best of the Tech backs.<\/p>\n
Bridge P\u0101 produced their best performance of the season when beaten 41-31 by MAC at Mitre 10 Sports Park. The hosts trailed 20-14 at halftime, finished strong and deserved their bonus point which was their first competition point in nine Premier matches.<\/p>\n
Loosehead prop Fraser Taurima-Heperi was again MAC\u2019s best player, with strong carries and superb cover defence. Tighthead prop T.K. Kata was again hard to contain and he boasts the distinction of having scored a try in each of his last four matches.<\/p>\n
Second five-eighths Donovan Godinet was the pick of the MAC backs and scored a splendid try bumping off three defenders on the way to the tryline. Experienced co-captain Bronson Hokianga was clinical at halfback. <\/p>\n
Scorers:<\/p>\n
Taradale Rugby and Sports 34 (C.J. Mienie (2), Nic Benn, Jonty Good, Hadlee Hay-Horton, Meni Manase tries; Henry Williams 2 cons), Hastings Rugby and Sports 33 (Bryson Ioane, Daniel Toala, Jordan Thompson-Dunn, Perez Malo, John Lameko tries; Oscar Sowman 4 cons). HT: 24-7.<\/p>\n
Havelock North 25 (Cooper Flanders (2), Tom Brock, Marcus Leach tries; Will Cole con, pen), Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports 14 (Drew Berg-McLean, Grayson Ewart tries; Hunter Yarrall 2 cons). HT: Pirate 14-12.<\/p>\n
MAC 41 (Louis Makiora, Fraser Taurima-Heperi, Charlie Salevao, Donovan Godinet, T.K. Kata, Alatasi Tupou, Xavier Clarke-Lloyd tries; Ratu Qaraniqio 2, Salevao cons), Bridge P\u0101 31 (Not Supplied). HT: 20-14.<\/p>\n
Napier Old Boys Marist 31 (Michael Beech (2), Kade Manuel, Elis Lewis, penalty try tries; Jonty Stewart 2 cons), Napier Technical 24 (Kianu Kereru-Symes (2), Liam Udy-Johns, Elia Bari tries; Leighton Shaw 2 cons ). HT: Tech 19-17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThere\u2019s been lots of changes in our squad each week and we\u2019re still building belief in our young…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[9500,64,63,10970,45345,137117,8117,71294,134620,2652,760,85,325981,319,114692],"class_list":["post-676235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-alive","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-club","tag-hang","tag-hopes","tag-just","tag-keep","tag-maddison","tag-on","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-taradale","tag-to","tag-trophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}