Rugby Results 7 May 2016

Westlake Boys 1st XV vs Rangitoto College 1st XV
By Trey Tupu-South – Photos Jack Hall

The 1st XV North Harbour college season got off to a great start last Saturday as Westlake secured a dominant performance over Rangitoto. Despite both teams’ history of a few close outcomes in recent years, Westlake was able to overrun their opposition in all areas of the game, securing the 43-12 win on their home patch.

After a thrilling first fifteen minutes, Westlake had strung together three tries. A series of well-drilled backline moves saw winger Jack Fuller, fullback Cameron Hey, and open-side flanker Jacob Katipa scoring in the corner. Westlake kicker No.10 Cooper Green struggled to convert early on but kicked well later in the game. While the Westlake players continued to play off one another, passing when possible and creating opportunities, Rangitoto continued to play as individuals despite their lack of success against Westlake’s strong defence. Another series of good passes saw Hey dot down his second try, capitalizing on the thoroughly one-sided first half. Westlake led 23-0 at halftime.

The second half saw Westlake forwards No.8 Lotu Inisi and lock Blake Houghton run rampant. Houghton managed to muscle his way over the try line from fifteen metres out early on. Westlake suffered a momentary lapse in judgment, dropping a long pass along their own five metre line allowing Rangitoto’s wing Tamati Huggins to scoop the ball up and score, capitalizing upon Westlake’s mistake. Despite this, the Westlake forwards continued their dominance at set piece, intercepting lineouts, spinning the scrum, and forcing Rangitoto ruck infringements.  In one case Lotu Inisi ran off the back of a five metre scrum and took the inside pass of halfback Casey Smith in order to finish a well-orchestrated try.   Immediately following this, a stampeding run from just outside of the Rangitoto’s 22 helped Westlake score its seventh and final try. One final moment of brilliance saw Rangitoto’s No.7 Breyton Lenee collect a chip kick made at the fifty metre line and score under the posts. This proved too little too late as the siren sounded cementing Westlake’s first win of the season.

In the other 1A fixtures, Whangarei edged Orewa at home with a late try to win 18-13 after Orewa led at half-time in a fast-paced game, Massey overwhelmed Birkenhead 65-8 and Rosmini soundly beat Takapuna 38-3.

The Open B teams played pre-season games 7 May and will commence their competition this Saturday 14 May.  All other grades will commence competition or continue grading 14 May.

Westlake Boys 2nd XV preseason camp
During the school holidays the 2nd XV squad travelled to the Far North for a rugby training camp. This included two pre-season games against Kaitaia College 1st XV and an under18 side. The team were hosted by Eric Rush at his family camp site. While the players returned somewhat battered and bruised, it was a great character building experience both on and off the field. The boys all had to contribute with the cooking (and clean-up!!) and worked hard on their fitness. They were also able to enjoy some team bonding sessions at the beach. Many thanks to their coaches Mr McKerrow and Mr Gage-Brown who made it all happen.

Westlake Boys 2nd XV vs Rosmini College 2nd XV
The hard work on tour paid off in the first game of the season against Rosmini College 2nd XV. Westlake were down at half time and trailing by 8 points. In a great comeback the team returned fired up with two converted Tries to win 14-8.  Stand out players included Ryo Ozaki who made ground every time he had the ball and Markku Venter who finished off a great team try scoring on the wing. A nifty inside ball from Cameron Abrahamse to Liam Brown put the boys ahead. But the team still needed to dig deep on defence. A tight-head scrum win on the five meter line denied Rosmini an attacking opportunity and victory went the Westlake way.

Other Results