Sport 16
Ashburton Guardian
Monday, April 4, 2016
www.guardianonline.co.nz
In brief Senior Bs kick off Mid Canterbury’s Senior B sides started their Michael Duff Memorial Trophy Competition on Saturday. Allenton got off to a fine start with a 12-3 win over Collegiate while Mt Somers downed Hampstead 19-6. Rakaia edged to victory in the closest tie of the day with a 30-27 victory over Celtic and Southern ran rampant over a dismal Methven 51-0.
Hat-trick for Crotty Centre Ryan Crotty has scored a hat-trick as the visiting Crusaders ran in a total of six tries in handing the in-form Lions a 43-37 defeat in Super Rugby at Ellis Park. It was the second major South African scalp in successive weeks for the New Zealand franchise, seventimes past winners of the southern hemisphere competition, after they had beaten the Sharks last weekend. - NZME
Chiefs running hot
Hampstead’s Vili Kakala shrugs off a tackle during his side’s 57-7 thumping at the hands of Glenmark at the Hampstead grounds on Saturday. PHOTO AMANDA KONYN 021016-AK0-063
■ RUGBY
Rakaia remains unbeaten By James Ford
James.F@TheGuardian.co.nz
Rakaia took the spoils against Celtic in an all-Mid Canterbury battle while Methven, Hampstead and Southern fell to defeats in week two of the Luisetti Seeds Combined Country Competition on Saturday. Methven 17 Rolleston 25 The defending Luisetti Seeds Combined Country Competition champions fell to their second loss in as many weekends against Rolleston on Saturday. Methven’s new-look team produced a better display than last weekend’s 20-13 loss to West Melton, but inconsistencies cost Andy Pearson’s men. Rolleston led 10-0 at the interval as Methven struggled to assert themselves in the opening stanza and fell further behind two minutes into the second half as the visitors posted their third unconverted try of the afternoon. Despite the defeat, positives will be taken from the last 20 minutes of the clash as Methven registered 17 points to Rolleston’s 10 in an exciting final quarter. Replacement prop Kinsey Pomana, fullback Harry Locke and flanker Tone Paseka touched down for the home side, while first five Thor Crombie could only convert the last try of the clash. Methven manager Wayne Timpson said he expects continued improvements following the departure of all but four of last year’s title winning side.
“When they click they will be as good as gold,” he said. “They will win more than they lose and we’ve seen the improvement already. “We hope to continue to see that when we have Kaiapoi next weekend.” Hampstead 7 Glenmark 57 Hampstead coach Regan Broker was highly critical of his side’s performance against Glenmark in Ashburton on Saturday. Hampstead fell to the second successive defeat in an outing that saw the home side restricted
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of the lacklustre display, and are hoping to put the defeat behind them as quickly as possible. “The guys were disgusted with how they played, they were outclassed and outplayed,” he said. “They don’t even want the team meeting on Tuesday. It’s on to next week now.” Southern 30 v Ashley 36 Southern are still without a win after falling to a 36-30 loss againt Ashley in their week two tie. Michael Ellis’ team were beaten 32-15 by Celtic in an all-Mid Canterbury affair last weekend,
When they click they will be as good as gold
to their own 22 for much of the first half. “I think it would have been 90 to 10 per cent possession, all we could do when we had the ball was kick it out from our 22,” said Broker. Glenmark’s fine support play and quick-phase passing left a shell-shocked Hampstead trailing 31-0 at halftime. “We didn’t even string two phases together in the first half. “They were fitter, faster and stronger,” he said. Broker said his players gave their own damning assessment
while Ashley narrowly snuck by a defiant Oxford 25-24. Southern held a 20-6 lead thanks to tries from Scott Vessey and Gideon Lambrechts, while Richard Fridd collected the extras, but Ashley struck twice before half time to take a 21-20 advantage in to the sheds. The second half was evenly matched with Adam Williamson touching down for Southern while Fridd was on target with his conversion and a penalty, but it wasn’t enough to secure the victory and Ellis will now be turning his attention to next
weekend’s visit to Waihora. “Definitely there’s positives, it was a good, hard game of rugby,” he said. “I think things will improve as we get some cohesion and our execution gets a bit better.” Rakaia 19 Celtic 13 Rakaia remains the only unbeaten Mid Canterbury team in the combined competition following a 19-13 victory over Celtic in a largely forgettable contest. Rakaia led 14-3 at the break, but, despite the win, assistant coach Wayne Foxcroft called for a much improved display next weekend against Oxford. “It was very poor, and a poor match to watch,” he said. “We’re not happy with the way we won. “Our option taking, decision making and commitment were poor at times, so there’s lots to improve on.” Following an explosive start with 14 points in under five minutes against Southern in their opening match of the campaign last Saturday, Celtic failed to deliver earlier on as basic errors proved costly throughout. “We just didn’t really fire. “They outplayed us and deserved the win,” said Celtic coach Shane Enright. “There was a lot of mistakes and knock-ons and there was a lot of turnover ball in the game, but we’ll just look to get back on the horse.”
The Chiefs proved why they’re this year’s Super Rugby pacesetters on Saturday, blowing away Australian conference leaders the Brumbies 48-23 in entertaining fashion. The free-running New Zealand side, led by skilful fullback Damian McKenzie, made light work of the competition’s best defensive team, banking a bonus point by scoring six tries to two in front of 13,300 fans at GIO Stadium. The Chiefs’ backline was brilliant, with James Lowe scoring his first career double, Toni Pulu, halfback Brad Weber and McKenzie all crossing for five-pointers. - AAP
Kings deny Sunwolves Replacement winger Elgar Watts scored a late try to earn South Africa’s Kings a first Super Rugby victory of the season with a 33-28 success over the Sunwolves of Japan at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium yesterday. The Asian side are still winless after five matches in their debut campaign in the completion’s, but they were left to rue missed opportunities as they dominated the second-half possession but could not turn it into points. - Reuters
Bulls hold off Cheetahs The Bulls ran in three first-half tries as they completed a hard-fought 23-18 Super Rugby victory over South African rivals the Cheetahs yesterday. Locks RG Snyman and Jason Jenkins plus flying winger Jamba Ulengo crossed the line for the home side who led 20-10 at halftime. But the visitors were always in the game with wing Sergeal Petersen and hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld bagging tries as they dominated secondhalf possession and territory. - AAP
Penalties concern Tana Conceding six consecutive first-half penalties to the Jaguares, which included a yellow card to wing Tevita Li, has concerned Blues coach Tana Umaga, who says his team didn’t react quickly enough to the rulings of Mike Fraser on Saturday night. The Blues enjoyed their second victory of the season when beating the Argentine side 24-16, but a more clinical team would have punished the home side’s ill discipline and that is something Umaga hopes his team quickly realise. - NZME