July 8, 2021
Kia ora NPOB whanau
For the final round of the regular season on 03 July, the New Plymouth Old Boys Rugby Club Senior Teams travelled to Inglewood to take on the locals in fine and warm conditions.
A brief outline of the matches played is as follows.
BCD Group NPOB Premier Team
The Old Boys Premiers kicked off its match knowing that they needed to win and grab a bonus point to advance to the semi-finals. However, despite scoring 3 tries Old Boys were unable to get the 5 points required as Inglewood ran out the victors 25-19.
Inglewood controlled play in the 1st half and scored 3 tries to their hooker Millenium Sanerivi to take a 19-0 lead before Old Boys got on the score sheet with a Michael Loft try just before the break. The half time score was 19-5 to Inglewood.
In the 2nd half Old Boys contested well and with a try in the corner by Adam Smith and conversion to Codey Rei, Old Boys trailed 19-12. Inglewood managed a further 2 penalties to extend its lead to 24-12. Old Boys scored again with around 5 minutes to go through Bradley Slater with a conversion by Codey Rei to close the score to 24-19 and give them the chance for a 5 point bonus win if they could score again. Unfortunately Old Boys couldn’t get over the line again and Inglewood took the victory 25-19.
Old Boys best players were Michael Loft, (3 points), Brayton Northcott Hill (2 points) and Jackson Morgan (1 point).
While not advancing to the semi-final round the Premiers can be proud of their efforts throughout the 2021 season, a season where they will reflect on a couple missed opportunities and injuries to a number of players at key times. A huge thanks most go to the Coaching and Management team and to the Division 1 and Colts players who stepped up for the Premier team at various times throughout the season. This is a young side with plenty of talent and if they can keep the majority of the squad together for 2022 they will be very competitive.
Alsco NPOB Division 1
The Alsco Old Boys Division side headed into its match with Inglewood with the top spot and home semi-final already wrapped up but wanted to maintain its momentum heading into finals footy.
Inglewood had everything to play for with a win confirming a semi-final spot for next week. The contrast in these two scenarios seemed to affect the way both teams began the match, Inglewood running the ball like their lives depended on it, and Old Boys tackling like it was a Thursday night team run. A soft try to the Inglewood centre under the sticks after 5 minutes was closely followed by another, this time a lineout drive after some poor discipline. After some stern words from the captain under the posts, Old Boys flicked a switch, piling the pressure on Inglewood which eventually led to a try to Jamayn Kepa in the corner. Cruz Grace, who has kicked well all year, converted the try and Old Boys went into halftime 12-10 down.
The 2nd half was a tough battle, both sides struggling to gain momentum with some controversial calls going both ways. With the only points in the half being an Inglewood penalty, Old boys had a chance to score on the final hooter only to be turned over on the try line. Fulltime 15-10 to Inglewood.
‘Crowbar’ Mawson was awarded 3 points for strong carries and accuracy at lineout time, Willie Lane took 2 points for his ferocity on defence and 1 point went to Caleb Ritai for controlling the game well under pressure.
Old Boys will be looking forward to bouncing back from that performance with their semi-final at the Whitehouse this week, a rematch against Inglewood.
Pepper Construction NPOB Colts
Pepper Construction Limited NPOB Colts 67 v Inglewood 0.
The Colts had set 1 of its goals for the 2021 season to make it through to the semi-finals matches as top qualifier with a home semi-final and they achieved their goal despite losing to Coastal and Stratford/Eltham in the first round avenging those losses in the second round.
At Inglewood they got away to a fast start with Zac Betteridge crossing for 2 tries within the first 7 minutes. The tries kept coming at regular intervals with a lot of open running rugby. For the first time this season the Old Boys players first instinct was to counterattack and shift the ball across the field and change the point of attack. Inglewood kept committing too many players to contact and then they were out flanked on the edges.
Zac Betteridge scored 4 tries and kicked 6 conversions for a total of 32 points, to take his tally to 165 points for the season, 95 from the boot and 14 tries. Zac Betteridge, who was to travel to Australia for work this week, may yet be available for this week’s match.
The Taranaki U19 coach contacted the Colts forward coach Mark Luff with a request for Old Boys to start 5 players that were eligible for the Taranaki U19 team. Old Boys actually had 9 players who were under 19 and were able to start a forward pack that was all under 19, which bodes well for the team and club in the future.
This Saturday Old Boys look forward to a home semi-final against a Southern team that have always being a challenge to play.
Junior Club
For the Junior club it was another cracking day for junior footy and the quality of the rugby matched the day.
Our man-on-the-bank managed to get to a couple of games, U9’s and U11’s. Both games were exciting to watch as all teams involved moved the ball freely. The games were competitive but played in great spirit.
Our man-on-the-bank was also very impressed in the quality of both U13 teams. The U13 Restricted Team went down but pushed a very good Coastal side to the end and having the better of the game in the 2nd half. The U13 Open Weight game was also outstanding. Both teams playing open and fast footy, the commitment in defence was a huge step up from the Old Boys team. Old Boys was extremely unlucky not to come away with a draw, but a very good Tukapa team managed to score with 5 minutes to go and were then good enough to hold Old Boys out. The U13 Open Team now face FDMC and the winner will face Tukapa in next week’s final.
Netball Club
Premiers
The Premier netball team played IURFU and came away from the game feeling a little deflated, especially coming into the business end of the season.
This was absolutely a game of 2 halves. For the 1st half Old Boys played really well, with some really nice flow through court and easy goals. In the 2nd half Inglewood applied pressure and Old Boys didn’t cope so well, with Inglewood restricting Old Boys drive through the court and Old Boys often falling back to one dimensional play and forcing the ball into the goal circle.
The final score was IURFU 63 – NPOB 36
The Premiers most valuable player was Olivia Bright.
Titans
Titans lost to the top team Tukapa Diamonds 42 -21. The Titans just couldn’t find its flow and Tukapa’s game was flawless.
The Titans most valuable player was Rochelle Bouterey at WD who secured a lot of tips and forced highball.
Rebelz
The Rebels had a draw against the Dynamics 31-31, a disappointing result especially since they lead by 10 goals at half time. Changes made at half time took too long to gel which had the Rebelz scrambling to keep themselves ahead.
The Rebels most valuable player was Caitlan Ogier who picked up some beautiful intercepts and tips throughout the game.
Stars
The Stars fought well throughout a game that could have gone either way until the last seconds. Unfortunately, the Stars couldn’t take the win but with no substitutes all the girls played their hearts out and gave it all they had. The final score was Tukapa Snr B 20 – Stars 19.
The Stars most valuable player was Charlee Smith.
Prizegiving Night
Prizegiving night will be held on Saturday 31st July 2021 with more details to follow.
This Weekend
This weekend the Division 1 and Colts teams will be playing semi-finals against Inglewood and Southern respectively at Vogeltown Park. Both games will start at 1pm. We encourage all Sponsors, old timers and supporters to come along to support the teams.
Good luck to the Division 1 and Colts teams in these matches.
Nga Mihi
Keith and Owen
