Round robin phase completed

Golden Bay’s senior rugby teams played their final round robin matches in this year’s Division 2 competition last Saturday.

Saints march on against Tākaka

Playing at home, and severely depleted by injuries, Tākaka put on a strong display against Marist Saints, but couldn’t prevent the visitors taking the victory.

It all started positively, with the home side taking a 7-0 lead after 10 minutes thanks to a try from Scott McKinley and an easy conversion by Tom Bassett Eason taken directly in front of the posts.

With points on the board, Tākaka sought to extend their lead but, despite pushing hard and putting Saints’ defence under pressure, couldn’t capitalise on their territorial advantage.

Approaching the half-hour mark, the visitors started to build some momentum, and levelled the scores, grounding the ball under the posts following a slick passing move.

Tākaka responded with a number of attacking runs along the right flank which forced Marist into making simple errors, but they were let off the hook by some uncharacteristic sloppy ball handling from the home team. The pressure, however, eventually paid off when Tākaka were awarded a penalty just before half-time only for the points to go begging.

Perhaps it was due to end of season fatigue – of the mind as well as body – but the second half was decidedly scrappy with both sides making silly mistakes and the visitors, in particular, guilty of some ugly tackles, one of which led to a red card.

With Marist down to 14 men, Tākaka turned the screw and came close to scoring on several occasions, but the visitors held firm. When the home side failed to kick another penalty it didn’t take Marist long to turn the game around, scoring tries on 63 and 74 minutes.

Final score: Tākaka 7 vs Marist Saints 19.

Speaking immediately after the match, Tākaka coach Hamish Hills gave his verdict on the game. “The boys played well but we made some basic mistakes; it’s been a tough few weeks.”

Reflecting on the 10-match campaign, Hamish said it had been “enjoyable” although the squad had suffered during the latter half. “It’s been a good season; we got a fast start but the injuries killed us.” He praised his players, who he said are keen to carry on. “They’re good boys to be around – they love it. And we’ll be back stronger next season.”

Collingwood secure semi-final

Collingwood travelled to Nelson where they needed a win to secure a semi-final spot. They got what they needed but not in the way they expected, while the hosts emerged with their reputation severely tarnished.

Going into the match, rooted to the bottom of the table with a single point, Nelson Galbraith had lost every one of their games this season. Having already picked up the wooden spoon, and with nothing to play for, however, they decided to stir the pot by stacking their Division 2 squad with Division 1 players. The tactic is contrary to Tasman Rugby Union (TRU) rules and it undermines the integrity of the competition.

As a consequence, Nelson lost the match by default, but only after 80 minutes of a physical encounter which left Collingwood with an even longer injury list – the last thing they needed going into a semi-final against table-toppers Stoke at Greenmeadows tomorrow afternoon.

Responding to an inquiry from The GB Weekly on Monday, TRU community rugby manager Kahu Marfell said he was very unimpressed by the home side’s conduct. “Nelson played Div 1 players that had started more than six games for their Div 1 team, that constitutes a default, very disappointing.”

For New Zealand’s oldest rugby club, which claims, “We are extremely proud of our history and heritage…,” it was indeed very disappointing.

Collingwood – a club with an equally proud heritage – made no comment regarding the default and instead turned their focus towards the upcoming semi-final.