Saturday 27th May marked the first defence of the Woodhouse Shield by the Westlake 1stXV. Birkenhead had recently posted a win over Massey (2016 Finalists), so when the coaches elected to rest many of the senior players, a few on the sideline wondered how things might play out. The coaches of course had complete faith in the junior players and by half time, with the score at 47 nil, any doubts were dispelled. Year 11 Student and No.11, Finau Paea, finished a great team try, while Year 12 players, Sean Vete and Markku Venter, added three more tries between them. Nikau Graham, also a newcomer to the team this year, had an outstanding game, carving up the middle and dotting down several times. Arikitohia Hood received a great ball from Year 11 standout Jack Robertson to score his second of four tries. Johhny Cooper couldn’t escape a mention with his speed and agility accounting for several more tries. To their credit, Birkenhead made a late rally which tested the Westlake defense but in the end Westlake were too strong. The final score was 95-0. What was equally impressive was the support from the 3rd XV and 5As players, who came to cheer for the 1sts after their games. Here’s a link to Ariki’s try with the cheers from the supporters in the back ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TrZh9QHiLk&authuser=0
The 2nd XV played Rosmini 2nd XV in a top of the table clash. Early tries saw Westlake get out to a healthy lead, 29-6, but Rosmini were far from finished and closed to 36 -20. Amazing football skills from Tom Hemington had him toeing the ball forward before scoring a great try. Equally agile was Dylan Chesney, who, after scoring a couple of tries of his own, performed amazing aerobatics to keep the ball in play and hand off to Wade Jansen for the try. The final score was 48-25. Here’s a link to the try:
https://www.facebook.com/145524392644184/videos/172510186612271/
Meanwhile the 3rd XV where mixing it with Rosmini 3rd XV with equal success. No.8, Kade Scheib made some good breaks off the back of the scrum and won some good turnovers. Fellow loose forward, Salim Sultandi, was also having a good game and scored his first try of the season. Coach Mr James was very happy with his boys’ effort and well pleased with the final tally of 30 – 20. To top things off, the Westlake 6As beat Rosmini 6As 41-0.
The only consolation for Rosmini on Saturday was that they didn’t have to play the Westlake 5As. Instead Westlake 5As where taking it to St Kentigern College. Mr Mildenhall is impressed with how hard the boys are working and the results reflect this. Stuart van Gelder was solid at scrum time, while Chace Harris was strong on the ground and Chlayton Frans was good with the ball in hand. Brook Robson controlled well at No 9. Taufui Lolohea was solid in defense and scored the team’s match-wining try. Judah Roycroft had the game of his life at lock. The final score was 13-5.