logo
Hawke's Bay club rugby: Four to battle for Maddison glory

Hawke's Bay club rugby: Four to battle for Maddison glory

NZ Herald29-06-2025
The weather's stunning backdrop to Hastings' 54-41 victory against Napier Tech at Elwood Park on Saturday. Photo / Emma Rodger
By Shane Hurndell
Hastings Rugby and Sports openside flanker Fale Matamata will struggle to forget his 100th premier outing in future.
It was celebrated with Saturday's 54-41 victory against Napier Technical at Elwood Park. This victory secured Hastings a berth in this weekend's Maddison Trophy premier club competition's semifinals -
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

First XV rugby: Lindisfarne's big chance in Central North Island semifinal
First XV rugby: Lindisfarne's big chance in Central North Island semifinal

NZ Herald

time2 days ago

  • NZ Herald

First XV rugby: Lindisfarne's big chance in Central North Island semifinal

Another sign may be that Feilding had 11 of the 14 players in this year's Hurricanes region Under 18 camp, which was dominated by players from Super 8 schools Napier, Hastings, Palmerston North and Gisborne. Lindisfarne had six, in forwards Manuel Vaoheilala, Charlie East and Louie Uregei, and backs Angus Scott, Noah Rogers and Reid Palmer. Lindisfarne co-coach Laurent Simutoga says the side have reached the same stage as in 2024, and are determined to go at least one better in the next step towards winning the competition for only the second time. St Peter's Cambridge completed an unbeaten record in the preliminaries with a 67-17 win over St John's College Hastings in Cambridge last Saturday and play Wesley College in the other semifinal. St John's – who were down 36-5 at halftime and having been beaten also 36-5 by New Plymouth school Francis Douglas Memorial College last Wednesday – ended a second season in a row without a win in the competition. The mid-table tightness of the Super 8 competition was highlighted on Saturday when Hastings BHS started with slim hopes of being the second finalist, yet less than an hour and a half later had slipped to fifth place. With PNBHS having secured the top seeding and a rights to a home final with six wins and a loss, the major damage to the prospects of a Hawke's Bay school joining them came in Hamilton. Needing a win to retain any chance, Hastings BHS were beaten 31-22 by Hamilton BHS. The position could have been reversed had they not conceded a last-second penalty against Rotorua and been beaten 34-33 by Rotorua in Hastings on June 19. On Saturday Hamilton led 19-3 at halftime but a strong Hastings comeback, including tries in the 64th and 68th minutes of a game of 35 minutes each way, closed the gap to 26-22 to Hamilton with just three minutes to go. Hastings battled back, fielding the ball from the kick-off, but Hamilton capitalised on a turnover about 20 metres out and bagged the last points. Hamilton scored five tries to three. Hastings' only points in the first came from a penalty goal kicked by first five-eighths Tana Faumuina, who converted two of the tries in the second half. Flanker PJ Peivi scored two tries in a match for the second time in a row, and the last was scored by halfback-off-the-bench France Tevita. Hastings and Napier BHS, who finished in sixth place, are expected to meet in another Hurricanes region match next week. Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke's Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke's Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.

Teacher's deep dive into running Ross Shield rugby in Wairoa
Teacher's deep dive into running Ross Shield rugby in Wairoa

NZ Herald

time3 days ago

  • NZ Herald

Teacher's deep dive into running Ross Shield rugby in Wairoa

A reunion of the team, one of nine Wairoa sides listed as winners on the Honours Board dating back over 120 years, is planned. It will be a particularly poignant gathering of the players, now aged over 70, having apparently never had a team photo with the trophy. Much of the memorabilia held by the Blake whanau, which has been represented on the fields multi-generationally, was lost in a homestead fire, including Bill Blake's own Wairoa cap from 1944 and the caps of sevens sons who wore the green jersey between 1975 and 1985. Whakatope, whose own sports prowess was in netball and basketball, said during lunch-break at her kura kast week: 'If there's anything that Wairoa needs it is that we all band together. Since Wairoa last hosted this tournament in 2019, we've all been through quite a bit. 'I put my hand up,' she said. 'I'm new to the Ross Shield, new to rugby.' Things started late, in May, and there were just 'eight weeks to go' in a town where the performance of the organisers and this year's team run parallel in importance. First, she had to start finding out 'what it was all about' and was surprised, in a good way, to learn what the Ross Shield tournament means to the families, including her own, and the district. The Blake whanau at the 2023 Ross Shield tournament in Napier in 2023, for the recapping of the primary schools rugby patron and his seven sons whose Wairoa Ross Shield team caps were lost in a fire. Photo / NZME She made a beeline for such rugby stalwarts as Sid Ropitini, Toby Taylor and Wayne Hema, and organisers of last year's tournament. That was held in Waipukurau and won for a third year in a row by Napier, in a continuation of the Napier-Hastings domination since Wairoa shared the title with Hastings East 31 years ago. Amid the horrors that the weather has thrown at Wairoa since the last Ross Shield tournament there, fingers are crossed that Lambton Square will be in good nick for three games a day. Senior Wairoa sub-union defences for the Barry Cup are being played at other venues, such as the first on July 20 at Māhia, to help keep the square's turf fresh for what will be the biggest event of any sort in Wairoa this year. Players and officials will be accommodated at the only two motels in town and at marae as far away as Māhia, more than 40km from Wairoa. At least six Hawke's Bay referees, mainly from Napier-Hastings, will officiate as referees or associate referees, with three needed per game. They're expected to include appointments officer Mark Johnson and fellow career school teacher, principal, and Premier grade referee Martin Hantz. A particular feature will be the end-of-tournament handing over of the tournament's first mauri stone to organisers of the 2026 tournament to be held in Hastings. It's being provided by Ngāti Pāhauwera as a symbol of protection and strength for the tournament, one of the last under-13 weight-restricted rugby tournaments in New Zealand. The tournament has outlasted such others as the upper North Island's inter-provincial Roller Mills tournament, canned in 2019 as the Northern Region Rugby Council stopped enabling provincial competition for teams under the age of 16. Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke's Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke's Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.

First XV rugby: Hastings Boys' High School Super 8 final hopes hinge on Saturday results
First XV rugby: Hastings Boys' High School Super 8 final hopes hinge on Saturday results

NZ Herald

time23-07-2025

  • NZ Herald

First XV rugby: Hastings Boys' High School Super 8 final hopes hinge on Saturday results

The likelihood of Hastings getting a sniff looked forlorn when they lost twice in their first four games, including a controversial last-second, single-point loss to Rotorua last month, also in Hastings. Hastings, who haven't won the Super 8 since sharing the honours with Hamilton in 2017, needed a big effort on Saturday, ahead 14-5 after 20 minutes but being down 20-19 at halftime and 27-19 five minutes after the break. With a big effort from the forwards particularly, Hastings scored the last 22 points, including two to tries to No 8 Panapa Peia and one to prop Isireli Qaranivalu, to go with the first-half five-pointers to flanker PJ Peivi, lock Eli Southwick and wing Raef Robinson in the first half. First five-eighths Tana Faumuina kicked a penalty goal and three conversions. Napier BHS, already out of a chance of qualifying, with four losses in five games, beat New Plymouth BHS 27-10 in Napier, after leading 15-0 at halftime. Napier's tries were scored by loose forwards Carlo Mienie and Ollie MacLachlan, fullback Joe Jury-Senitu, and wing Angus Lovatt, while first five-eighths Will Lovatt kicked a penalty and two conversions. But the sky blues had it much tougher backing up on Wednesday, during one of the biggest exchanges in New Zealand schools sport. Defending the banner after retaining the bragging rights in a drawn match in Napier last year, NBHS conceded three tries in being down 19-0 after 22 minutes, before their only try was scored by No 8 Carter Pirie, converted by Will Lovatt, before going to halftime down 22-7. Meanwhile, in the Central North Island Schools competition, Lindisfarne College, having already played all eight games, sit out the last two weeks waiting to see whether they will play leaders St Peter's Cambridge or second-placed Feilding HS in the semifinals. On Tuesday in Hastings, they had a 62-12 traditional fixture win over Masterton school Rathkeale College, which this year opted out of the CNI competition and is currently placed fourth in the Wellington schools Premier competition. Lindisfarne are also preparing for a first and second XV trip to the UK and France in September. Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke's Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke's Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store