News

The Counties Manukau U18 Boys have enjoyed a 23-0 win over North Harbour in their crossover final on Saturday, crowned Northern Region champions in the process.

With a strong wind at their backs in the first half, Counties Manukau spent the first quarter of the game defending their own line.

They were able to score when they got into the North Harbour half, through a try to David Kama and a long-range penalty goal to Hunter Maxwell.

Playing into the wind in the second spell, Counties Manukau kept ball in hand using their big forwards and mid-field backs to carry hard.

Three second half tries sealed the win while the coaches were pleased to keep North Harbour scoreless. It caps a superb unbeaten season for the team.

The Counties Manukau U16 boys and girls had a big couple of days playing in the Northern Regions Under 16 Tournament in Te Awamutu on the weekend.

The U16 Boys played well to make it to the final against Waikato where they went on to finish runners up. 

The U16 Girls picked up a pair of wins to go with a draw and a loss to also finish runner-up in their competition.

The Counties Manukau U18 Girls had a big 77-10 win over King Country with Tisi Vehikite scoring a hattrick.

They currently sit third with two rounds of pool play to go.

The PIC Steelers Development side went down to Bay of Plenty 33-7 at Mount Maunganui.

The Counties Manukau U19s lost to unbeaten Auckland 35-13 at Grammar TEC.

Counties Manukau started particularly well into a strong wind stringing together numerous phases resulting from strong carry and accurate clean out work. They were rewarded with a penalty close to the Auckland line which fullback Jayden Flanagan converted.

Auckland replied with four converted tries, two of these from opportunistic moments where they showed speed to ball. A try to Roman Fa’amausili on the back of some hard work by Counties Manukau was reward for the effort Counties Manukau had applied.

The second half saw a try each, captain Nathan Halliday scoring. Again, Counties Manukau worked hard to break down a solid Auckland Defence.

Loose forward Austin Carew was the Red (Courage) while Mak Kailahi and Lasi Musi were the Black (Hard Work) players of the day.