- By Neville Shirley
The Pakuranga United Rugby Club Premiers’ final home game of the round-robin, and the penultimate game of the first round, against Marist last Saturday had the makings of a good clash.
Marist had been climbing their way up the ladder and we wanted to cement second place on the table.
The lads started well and put pressure on Marist with a couple of good ventures into their opponent’s half.
We managed to force a penalty midfield from an early tackle which was converted by George Sims.
Shocked into action, Marist came back with a vengeance from the kick-off, holding possession and working into the 22 from a mid-field crash.
They then switched back to the short side and outflanked us with a try in the corner, which went unconverted.
After working our way into the 22 from a penalty we turned the ball over in the ensuing lineout and were forced back down the field.
Marist upset our scrum, grabbed the ball and broke away downfield.
They were stopped 10m short of the line, cleared from the ruck a cross-field kick which found the winger unmarked who ran over untouched. The try was converted.
That led to a period of play midfield where both teams had opportunities but good defence kept them at bay.
Pakuranga was the next to score. A penalty on the Marist 10m was kicked into the 22 again but this time the lineout was secured and a crash mid-field gained some momentum, pushing toward the try line.
Good fast ball saw a long pass to blindside with Sione Fafita scoring in the corner. The try was unconverted.
Period of play at both ends of the field saw a few mistakes and handling errors as the rain began to fall.
George Sims managed to slot a penalty as the first half closed Marist ahead 12-11.
The second half started as the first with both teams trading penalty kicks.
Weather conditions continued to make ball handling difficult.
Pakuranga gained ascendency through the middle part of the second half with great defence and attack, both teams taking the points as they came along.
A penalty kick to Marist and another penalty to George Sims after a quick throw and the Marist player stopped the ball coming quickly on Marist’s 10m line. A great long-range kick.
This was the best period of play from Pakuranga, whose scrum dominated resulting in a number of scrum penalties.
With 10 minutes to go Pakuranga were camped in the Marist half. Great defence was again the order of the half.
From a Marist lineout mistake the boys pounced on the ball, setting a ruck mid-field and the quick ball was sent wide.
Some good fast hands saw Tane Dunn run into a gap to score 15m in from touch. This finally put Pakuranga ahead with a small buffer 24-15 with three minutes to play.
Not to give up Marist threw everything at Pakuranga. After a succession of penalties they were inside our 22m and with time almost up on the clock they scored to make it 24-20.
At the restart the ref said 30 seconds to play.
Again Marist held possession from the kick-off and worked with some great play into the 22m.
The Pakuranga crowd were on their feet encouraging the team to make tackles which they did.
Repeated attempts at the line were repelled and finally a mistake from Marist as a Pakuranga player got over the ball and got the penalty, taped and kicked into touch to end the game 24-20 to Pakuranga.
Some outstanding performances by Pakuranga forwards led by player of the day, Setefano Leavasa, closely followed by Randle Baker and Tane Dunn.
A great display of club rugby. This week we are off to East Tamaki.
Thanks again for your support and our lads will continue to do you proud.
