CLUB RUGBY 2018
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Club competitions have started around the provinces. I have hung up my boots and I am managing the Te Rapa senior squad who play in the Waikato Division One competition. We have a young squad with a few boys out of HBHS 3rd XV who would have been first XV at other schools or under a different coach.
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Premier A
Fraser Tech 18-36 Otorohanga
Hautapu 41-20 Melville
Morrinsville Sports 48-14 Te Awamutu Sports
University 7-36 Hamilton Old Boys
Hamilton Marist -BYEPremier B
Fraser Tech 34-12 Otorohanga
Hautapu 39-5 Melville
Morrinsville Sports 48-14 Te Awamutu Sports
University 17-24 Hamilton Old Boys
Hamilton Marist -BYEDivision 1A
Hinuera 18-17 United Matamata Sports
Te Rapa 23-41 Southern United
Huntly College Old Boys 7-43 Putaruru
Leamington 88-0 Frankton
Ohaupo 8-39 Suburbs
Taupiri 41-3 PirongiaDivision 1B
Te Rapa DEFAULT - WIN Southern United
Huntly College Old Boys DEFAULT - WIN Putarutu
Leamington 62-5 Frankton
Ohaupo 0-39 Suburbs
Taupiri 16-5 Pirongia
Hinuera - BYE -
Premier A Week 6
Fraser Tech 15-13 Morrinsville Sports
Hamilton Marist 16-5 Otorohanga
Melville 0-50 Hamilton Old Boys
Te Awamutu Sports 3-29 Hautapu
University – ByePremier B Week 6
Fraser Tech 20-20 Morrinsville Sports
Hamilton Marist 27-8 Otorohanga
Melville 5-8 Hamilton Old Boys
Te Awamutu Sports 5-44 Hautapu
University – ByeDivision 1A Week 7
Hinuera 48-7 Frankton
Huntly College Old Boys 0-84 Leamington
Ohaupo 32-12 Pirongia
Putaruru 16-34 Southern United
Taupiri 71-7 Te Rapa
United Matamata Sports 22-15 SuburbsDivision 1B Week 7
Hinuera 33-13 Frankton
Huntly College Old Boys DEFAULT-WIN Leamington
Ohaupo 7-17 Pirongia
Putaruru 0-35 Southern United
Taupiri 43-0 Te Rapa
United Matamata Sports 34-12 SuburbsDivision 2 Week 4
Ngaruawahia/Te Akau DEFAULT-WIN Kihikihi
Raglan 62-5 Jaradites
Te Awamutu Marist 7-58 Hamilton Old Boys
Whatawhata v Matangi Hillcrest (No result supplied)
Kereone – BYEColts week 3
Leamington 0-12 Hamilton Marist
Morrinsville Sports 31-14 University
United Matamata Sports 37-13 Hamilton Old BoysUnder 85kgs week 3
Fraser Tech 14-0 Morrinsville Sports
Hamilton Marist 34-0 University
Melville WIN - DEFAULT Te Awamutu SportsGallagher Women’s Premiership week 3
Putaruru 0-68 Melville
Otorohanga 0-84 Hamilton Old Boys (No result supplied)
Taupiri v Southern United
University- BYE -
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Counties Power Club Rugby Results 28 April 2018
McNamara Cup (Premier 1)
Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega 11
(Peni Buakula tries; Cody White 2 pens)
Bombay 21
(Reuben Unga, Mitchell Thackham tries; Ki Aufe cons; Ki Anufe 3 pens)
HT: 8-13Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors (Counties Power Cup Holders) 24
(Polynesia Crichton, Jonathan Taumateine, Solomona Paraki 2 tries; Luteru Laulala, Latiume Fosita cons)
Onewhero Silver Fern Marquees 17
(Ilaisa Koaneti, Steven Jones tries; Rhain Strang 2 cons; Rhain Strang pens)
HT: 12-10Manurewa Kidd Contracting 53
(Michael Tafili, Troey Myers, Willie Tuala, Pisi Leilua, William Raea, Joshua Tafili tries; James Faiva 5 cons; James Faiva pens)
Karaka 23
(Juan Benadie, Iafeta Luamanu, Cardiff Vaega tries; Juan Benadie cons; Juan Benadie 2 pens)
HT: 29-6Waiuku Brian James Contracting 12
(Apec Togafau, Nathan Millar tries; Christian Walker cons)
Patumahoe Troydon Patumahoe Hotel 18
(Vernon Comley, Riley Hohepa tries; Riley Hohepa cons; Riley Hohepa 2 pens)
HT: 12-10Bob Chandler Memorial (Premier 2)
Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group 69 Onewhero Hinemoa Produce 0; Manurewa Wise Property Management 17 Karaka 25 Waiuku 12 Patumahoe Dave Redshaw Electrical 21; Pukekohe 24 Bombay 19Sid Marshall Shield (Premier 3)
Karaka 5 Drury 22; Puni 20 Maramarua 23; Weymouth 31 Te Kauwhata 12Massey Cup (U21)
Pukekohe 28 Karaka 17; Manurewa defaulted to Ardmore Marist Ross Roof Group; Patumahoe Albycon 34 Papakura Ray White 5Under 85kg:
Pukekohe 15 Karaka 21; Patumahoe Pak N Save 29 Papakura Ray White 7; Waiuku 5 Bombay Lincoln Farms 17Women’s:
Manurewa 41 ECB 27; Glenfield 24 Ardmore Marist 47; Waiuku 12 Waitakere 27; Te Papa 36 Papakura 22 -
@mikedogz said in CLUB RUGBY 2018:
It looks like some of the top division 1 teams in the Waikato are spending a bit of money to try and get back into Premier grade rugby. Taupiri are doing well with a new roster.
I remember when Taupiri were the champs with a forward pack including Gatland (player/coach), Royce Willis and Aaron Hopa. And all the Litts.
I thought that the Melville-HOB game would have been more competitive. Huntly COB seems to be really struggling in RL heartland.
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Huntly COB didn't ask to go up but were approached to go up, it hasn't really worked out for them. The result that stood out for me in our grade was Ohaupo beating Pirongia. My team Te Rapa are out of the running for top seven so our aim is to make the Div 1 final that we lost last year with Pirongia being our main rival.
In my home province my team Onewhero look out of the running for the Counties top four but are making the top teams work with an improved performance against Ardmore Marist compared to their last game.
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Is this a nationwide problem, or is it going to be?
Grassroots looking mighty thin
Players are drifting away from the game, coaches are harder to find, clubrooms are emptying while administrators are getting older and running out of steam. There are 25 fewer teams playing the game in the adult ranks then there were 20 years ago. Dunedin premier club rugby went down to nine teams last year when Pirates failed to get a team on the park. It hoped to return to the premier grade this year but that never happened. Now, talk to most club people who watch and work in club rugby and the question is not if the competition will go down to eight teams, but when. These are changing times. Team sports, not just rugby, are facing challenges. There are a whole lot of reasons for the changes and no one sport is immune. Change is inevitable. That is life. Perhaps one just has to accept it and move on. But it seems to be happening quickly in club rugby and that is the foundation of the game in this country.The players are simply not there. Clubs are working hard but it is not easy to get players. "A lot of students now are just not playing rugby. People think they are still playing but there are no social rugby grades. There are college teams and that is it. "There is a lot more commitment to play rugby at premier level and guys have just got so many other options. "It probably started when the game went professional. Then premier teams started becoming more professional and the demand on the players have grown." The game has changed markedly. It is much more of a game of confrontation and physicality. "It is a completely different game. But I think the majority of players do not have the same basic skills that used to be around. To be able to pass, kick, tackle." A more physical game led to injuries, and truckloads of them.That is another issue — players turning up every week. Southern chairman Blair Crawford said the growth of individualism had implications for a team sport. "That individual focus means a lot of people just do not have that commitment to the sport. You have a lot of people who are willing to do a bit here and there but they will never commit," he said. "We had the premiership winning team last year and this season we just could not get an assistant coach for the team. We tried and tried but just could not get one. "It is a battle to get people back to the clubrooms. Players stop playing and they just drift away from the club. That is one of the biggest issues, just getting players to stay involved. They might play and then a couple of their mates move on and they just don’t stay."Town clubs do it harder than clubs with defined catchments, such as Green Island and Taieri. Clubs became too reliant on students and that meant they ignored the decline of playing numbers in secondary schools in the south. "You’ve still got those enthusiastic ones who are playing for the right reasons and are old-school. But a lot of them are not. They might play up to colts and then just not play anymore." Injury tolls have skyrocketed. "You can remember those days when you could have 17 players and get through a season. It would simply not happen now. "Everyone has got injuries. Or they can not afford to get injuries so they simply don’t play anymore." -
@stargazer starts earlier than that.
TR Jnr plays at probably the biggest Club in Whangarei, last year in U12, we had maybe 40 boys, 2 teams topped the comp 1st equal, 1 loss each...this year there were some tweaks around age and weight rules, we have 23 boys
My team personally, we had 19 last year, 5 kids gone through the rule tweak (2 of those didnt go to U14 as our club didnt have a team in U14) so went to another club, which sucks as it doesnt foster loyalty, not to mention these guys want to play with thier mates at this age.
Lost 2 others just chose not to play this year, 1 nabbed by an Auckland school and another moved away with his family, but he is playing still elsewhere.
Between us and the other team, I think our club lost over 20 kids from last year (I think about 40% of them not playing this year) picked up a few others from being forced to come up a grade due to new rule tweaks.
I know 2 other local clubs that had teams in U12 last year, dont have teams this year, 1 other club had 2 teams last year, 1 this year.
I saw some statistic on player numbers by age, and this is the age where you start losing kids, I am sure someone has done the analysis of where they go instead of playing rugby, but is frustrating as a coach seeing kids who want to play, choose not to play rugby with thier mates for whatever reason.
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@stargazer Already happened in many places and will probably only get worse.
Club competitions will survive in many places throughout our lifetimes, but the pathways will, I think, increasingly resemble the US model for football, basketball, baseball, where you progress through school, college, professional ranks and if you don't get picked up at any stage that's largely the end of your career (substitute NPC for college).
Interesting for me to look at the North Canterbury competition. No idea who some of these teams are, but when I was playing 40+ years ago, there was a Hurunui subunion competition up to U14 - teams from Waiau, Hanmer, Culverden, Cheviot and two from United. All of these clubs also had senior teams that competed in the broader North Canterbury competition. Now it seems they've pretty much been merged into one "Hurunui" team (Cheviot has merged with Glenmark).
The whole competition looks like it is a merger of separate competitions - there used to be Hurunui, North Canterbury and Ellesmere subunions each running their own competitions - now these three are all one - plus other teams from further south, like Ashburton, which I think were part of a separate Mid-Canterbury and/or Malvern competition (I could be wrong about that). Kaikoura was part of Marlborough - but have apparently been sent to play in North Canterbury, now that the Nelson and Marlborough competitions have combined.
When I was playing, the North Canterbury Senior Competition probably comprised the following clubs: Hanmer, Waiau, Culverden, Cheviot, United, Glenmark, Amberley, Ashley, Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Woodend, Oxford, Ohoka - most of which appear to have merged or disappeared.
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A lot of provinces have done away with the Under 19 grade. Counties and Waikato have 21's. Waikato having six colts teams is poor for a province if its size. A lot of school boys are going straight into senior rugby. A few years ago in Counties there were two divisions with B teams also. Now only the top grade requires a b team.
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Counties Power Club Rugby Results 12 May 2018
McNamara Cup (Premier 1)
Ardmore Marist South Auckland Motors (Counties Power Cup Holders) 20
(Penalty Try, tries; cons; pens)
Manurewa Kidd Contracting 3
(Logan Fonoti pens)
HT: 17-3Papakura Ray White 12
(George Crichton, Dylan Leckner tries; Faalae Peni cons)
Patumahoe Troydon Patumahoe Hotel 15
(Richard Taupaki, Troy Abernethy tries; Broc Hooper cons; Broc Hooper pens)
HT: 7-10Pukekohe Mitre 10 Mega 18
(Trent White, Taine McQuoid tries; Cody White cons; Cody White 2pens)
Karaka 18
(Andrew West, Cardiff Vaega tries; Juan Benadie cons; Kalione Hala, Juan Benadie pens)
HT: 15-8Bombay 49
(Jordan Goldsmith 2, Patrick Masoe, Tuise Toai-Key, Tulele Masoe, Sepuloni Taufa tries; Ki Anufe 5 cons; Ki Anufe 4pens)
Onewhero Silver Fern Marquees 33
(Penalty try, Lesley Vainkolo, Zac Wootten, Kieran Whyte, Jackson Orr tries; Rhain Strang 3 cons)
HT: 43-12 -
Premier A Week 8
Fraser Tech 12-24 Hamilton Marist
Hamilton Old Boys 64-15 Te Awamutu Sport
Hautapu 52-16 Morrinsville Sport
Otorohanga 45-12 University
Melville – ByeOne of the clubs in Division 1, Suburbs had immigration turn up to training and they have lost 8 players. That makes it easier for my team next week.
North Canterbury Rugby Union
