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Counties Power Club Rugby kicked off for another season this weekend with a few big wins. A lot of Premier clubs were down on numbers, with Cavaliers players away taking on the New Zealand Under 20’s, but there were still some good results.

Karaka took out the Counties Power Game of the Week at home, defeating Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega 41-3, after leading 22-3 at halftime.

It was a brutal encounter, which saw Karaka lose their halfback and first-five to concussion and a knee injury respectively. Karaka coach Craig Hill was very pleased with the strong start to their season.

“It certainly was a good first up win but the score didn’t reflect how hard the game was. It was still really tough and at the end of the day Karaka probably took their chances and Pukekohe didn’t”.

Halfback Desma Liaina was named Wilcox Player of the Day, taking home a vegetable basket from A S Wilcox & Sons Limited. He scored a hat trick and was a constant threat on attack. Hill said Liaina had an all round great game.

“Desma was outstanding. He was dangerous on attack, he did score a couple of intercept tries. We did have a few injuries so we had to move people around a little bit so he spent a bit of time at fullback”.

Joe Reynolds slotted Pukekohe’s lone penalty kick. Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega host Papakura Ray White next weekend.

Onewhero got their 2016 campaign off to a great start, defeating last year’s McNamara Cup champions Bombay 23-20 at Onewhero.

Bombay started well and had a 12-3 lead inside the first 30 minutes, but Onewhero stayed strong on defence and then were able to come back with some points before half time. The home side took a 13-12 lead into the break.

Leroy Jack and Filipe Pau scored Onewhero’s tries, while Luke Makris kicked two conversions and three penalties. For Bombay, Shaun Muir, Mitchell Tukerangi and Patrick Masoe dotted down and Reece Joyce kicked a conversion and a penalty.

Adam Cathcart thoroughly enjoyed his first game as head coach of Onewhero, although he admits there were a few nerves on the sideline.

“Yea it’s a bit different to playing, but the boys performance was all I could really ask for. I was really impressed with our number 5 Kieran White. He got our player of the day and he put in a real big effort. He was particularly good on recovery tackles and was pretty physical up front as well”.

Both sides were missing key personnel, so their next encounter promises to be an exciting one.

Counties Power Cup Holders Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors beat a spirited Drury side 37-13 at Drury Domain. Ardmore Marist was satisfied that their patterns that were set out for the first couple of games came together.

Winger Eddie Hereme scored the first try, coming from a 60 metre run. Sefulu Punatai scored their second, they then got a penalty try and Hereme chimed in again with his second for the game.

Ardmore Marist President Glen Flavell was really impressed with how well Drury went. He thought they were a much-improved side and that they’ll be one to watch throughout the season.

Patumahoe came away with an 18-0 win over Manurewa at ECOLight Stadium 2. It was a tighter game than the score line suggests, with Manurewa doing the majority of the attacking.

Patumahoe coach John Penberthy said his side’s defence managed to hold up and they got a try against the run of play just before half time to go 5-0 up.

“The second half was a little bit of the same thing, Manurewa had the majority of the ball. But we managed to come through in the last quarter, scoring two tries and a penalty. It was a great hit out by both teams actually, Manurewa played really well”.

Penberthy was happy with a great team effort and he credited his loose forward trio who played well together. He reckons they’ll put a bit of pressure on the players they have returning from Cavaliers duty this week.

In other Challenge Cup Premier results, Te Kauwhata defeated Weymouth 41-14 at home and Waiuku overcame Papakura Ray White 27-0 at Waiuku.

In the Don Shuker Cup Premier Reserve, Ardmore Marist Harcourts beat Drury 41-5, Te Kauwhata defeated Puni 32-12, Patumahoe edged Manurewa 29-27, Onewhero beat Bombay 27-14, Karaka had a close encounter with Pukekohe, winning 22-20 and Waiuku beat Papakura Ray White 22-14.

Following grades kick off 2 April:

Massey Cup (Under 21), Bright Cup (Under 20), Under 85kg, Division 2, Women’s.

Photo Credit: Richard Spranger

Check out photos from Karaka vs Pukekohe on March 12, 2016 on the link below:

http://spranger.photoshelter.com/gallery/160312-Counties-Manukau-Club-Rugby-Karaka-vs-Pukekohe/G00002xqw8wdJTNk/C00002xqIU04xAG8/u=U0000pU3dyzyTAnw

(Information supplied by club coaches and team sheets).

A S Wilcox & Sons Limited Leaderboard after Round One