News

The Counties Manukau Steelers have won their second Mitre 10 Cup pre-season fixture 43-3 over Samoa A at ECOLight Stadium tonight.

They were awarded with the Peter Fatialofa Memorial Trophy for the victory. The Fatialofa Family were in attendance, with son Jeremiah starting at prop for Samoa A.

Sherwin Stowers got the first points on the board for the Steelers, scoring a try inside the first 10 minutes. Samoa A was ruthless on defence, putting in some huge hits in the opening half.

Samoa A first-five Ray Laulala struck back with a penalty to make the score 5-3 after 20 minutes. Showers were on and off throughout the first half, making conditions slippery. At the 25-minute mark, Steelers number 10 Piers Francis pounced on a Samoa A error right on their line to score. Luteru Laulala slotted the conversion and they extended their lead to 12-3.

Right on halftime, flanker Fotu Lokotui fell over the line after a great driving maul from the home side. Laulala kicked the conversion from the sideline to give the Steelers at 19-3 half time lead.

Samoa A battled hard early in the second half, putting the Steelers scrum under some pressure. But 10 minutes into the second spell, winger Sione Fifta made a great break putting Orbyn Leger into some space to score in the right corner and give the home side a 24-3 lead.

Number 8 Sootala Fa’aso’o was denied a try shortly after, with the referee calling a knock on. 

Replacement halfback Richard Judd broke from a ruck and beat four tacklers to score at the 70-minute mark. The Steelers extended their lead to 29-3.

Prop Kalolo Tuiloma made a 40 metre run towards the try line, and popped the ball up to Sherwin Stowers who crossed over for his second of the night. Joe Reynolds made the conversion and straight away Kalione Hala ran away to score right under the posts on full time. Reynolds slotted his second conversion to give the Steelers a 43-3 victory.

Counties Manukau assistant coach Grant Henson said it was a great occasion.

“It was good to play for the Peter Fatialofa Memorial Trophy and great to have his family here. On the field, it was a bit scrappy from us with quite a few handling errors. We definitely have some work to do on mauls and defensive line out and getting the ball into wide channels. But it was a good hit out and we got a few points on the board. We certainly have lots to work on heading into the Game of Three Halves next week.”

Don’t forget the All Blacks are in town next Friday, the 12^th of August for the Game of Three Halves at ECOLight Stadium. Kick off at 5:30pm. The Steelers will take on Northland & the All Blacks! Make sure you get your tickets from the CMRFU Office at ECOLight Stadium, iticket.co.nz or BUY a Steelers Season Membership from just $100.

Season Memberships & tickets for the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup campaign are now available for purchase during office hours at the CMRFU Office at ECOLight Stadium or online at www.iticket.co.nz .A Season Membership will get you into our Game of Three Halves against the All Blacks & Northland and our five home games against Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Taranaki, Waikato and Canterbury.