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COUNTIES POWER CLUB RUGBY ROUND UP - ROUND 2 - 18 MARCH 2017

Sun, 19 Mar 2017

Patumahoe Hotel turned around the form book with a superb display to take the Counties Power Cup off Pukekohe Mitre 10 in the Counties Power Game of the Week at Patumahoe Domain.

The home side frustrated Pukekohe by getting up in their face and shutting down whatever attack they threw their way.

Led superbly by number eight Tamati Fromm, who plays well above his weight at number eight, and inspired by the terrific play of Willy and Sam Furniss the Patumahoe side got better and better as the game went on. Lock Willy Furniss grafted hard and was named AS Wilcox and Sons Player of the Day while Sam Furniss showed his full array of silky skills, chiming into the back line from his new position of fullback.

Winger Harley Jenkins bagged a double in a busy performance.

After a less-than-impressive win over Papakura last week coach Jeff Maka was proud of the big improvement in his side as they took the silverware including the Tresco Cup contested between the two neighbours.

“I think our boys brought the intensity up today,” he said. “We had to. It is against Puke – traditionally they are a very good side and the local derby is always going to be tough.

“You could see it in the guys’ eyes that they were really up for it. In saying that we still had to go out on the field and deliver and we did that.”

Maka was especially happy with how his team played without the ball and how quickly they got up in the face of the opposition.

“That is what we have been working on all week – they are a big side and we had to get off the line, because if not they will make easy yards. It worked.

“I thought as a whole everyone played very well. The loosies played really well today and put pressure on Pukekohe.”

The biggest result of the week saw Karaka bounce back from a first-up loss to Pukekohe to thrash defending champions Bombay Gough Cat 56-3 in a performance that will send shock waves across the competition.

“They were missing a few of their big guns but we can only play against who they put out,” Karaka coach Craig Hill said.

“We missed a lot of opportunities last week against Pukekohe that we should have nailed but yesterday we got most of them. We didn’t get them all right but we got most of them.

“Our ball carriers got us going and we got a lot of quick ball and that was the most pleasing thing because we have some pretty exciting backs.

“It was a pretty dominant display.

“When you have Pukekohe and then Bombay early on you could have easier starts and we didn’t want to be zero from two.”

Onewhero Counties Bulk Haulage picked up their first win of the season and the Gumboot when they saw off Te Kauwhata EnvironWaste 36-19 in their annual Gumboot Challenge at Onewhero Domain.

Former Steelers rep and Onewhero head coach Adam Cathcart was much happier with his side’s effort this week after losing to Bombay in week one.

“We started really well, getting a quick try in the first five minutes,” Cathcart said. “We had the wind in the first half so we tried to plug the corners a bit.

“It was a pretty big improvement to be fair. Especially with ball in hand – we really looked after it this week. We got a bit more front foot ball and were able to use our back line this week.

“Set piece wise we won all our set piece.”

Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors moved to the top of the table with a big 57-27 win over Waiuku Brian James Contracting.

In the first game played on the new turf at Rugby Park in Waiuku the visitors jumped out to a big halftime lead. But with the result basically confirmed at halftime the young Waiuku side showed some fight to score some late points and bag a bonus point for their efforts, celebrating veteran Sam Cole’s 150^th game for the club.

“We went in there wanting to dominate their set piece and we established that in the first half,” Ardmore Marist coach Saua Leaupepetele said. “We got some continuity with our attack.

“Damon Leasuasu was a stand out for us - it was his first game back since last year so he did it tough for 80 minutes. He led the set piece and got himself back into match fitness.”

Leaupepetele was impressed with the heart Waiuku showed.

“They are going through struggles like every club goes through. They are a very young side and you have to start somewhere if you are trying to rebuild.

“We played 60 minutes and they played 20 minutes of good rugby. Most teams would have tapped out with the score we had on them so I have to give it to them for showing some real steel and they deserved those late tries.”

Waiuku coach Alex Leger paid tribute to Cole in his milestone match.

“Sam Cole led from the front and he pushed his team with pride and passion and they fought back hard,” Leger said.

Manurewa Kidd Contracting, another first round loser, hit back with a dominant 59-7 win over Papakura Ray White. The home side blew Papakura off the park with a nine tries to one victory.

After just two rounds it is obvious that there isn’t a lot between many of the sides this year and some topsy-turvy results can be expected this season.

McNamara Cup (Premier 1)

Manurewa Kidd Contracting 59

(Francis Tafua 2, Peter White 2, Joshua Westerlund 2, Faalata Punatai, Vili Ravudi, Viliame Taulani tries; Bradford Lemalufaitoaga 7 cons;)

Papakura Ray White 7

(Shirley Halasina tries; Dylan Watters cons)

HT: 26-0

Onewhero Counties Bulk Haulage 36

(Nicholas Perez, Zac Wootten 2, Lachlan Foote, Teina Nahi, Samuel Shuker tries; Luke Makris 2, Nicholas Perez cons)

Te Kauwhata EnvironWaste 19

Sorpe Kolotau, Loko Fotu tries; Vilitati Sabani 3 pens)

HT: 26-9

Karaka 56