THAMES VALLEY RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION PO BOX 245, PAEROA 3600. PH 07 862 6352 FAX 07 862 7677 TVRFU Weekly Newsletter (29th July 2020) JUNIOR RUGBY Junior Rugby kicked off last weekend with a total of 17 matches taking place around the region. Rippa Rugby also kicked off and it was great to see all of our kids who are not of age to play contact rugby down at their respective clubs on Friday night, where coaches took the young ‘nippers’ for a series of activities and games. This week Junior Rugby moves into its second Festival Day. Please see below the draw for the upcoming matches, and remember that matches may be shortened due to playing two matches in one day. Thank you to the clubs hosting this weekend! U8s DRAW: FESTIVAL DAY—WHANGAMATA Saturday 1st August Paeroa vs Thames Whangamata 10.00am Start 1a Saturday 1st August Hauraki vs Whangamata Whangamata 10.00am Start 1b Saturday 1st August Waihi Black vs Waihi Red Whangamata 10.00am Start 2a Saturday 1st August Mercury Bay vs Te Aroha Whangamata 10.00am Start 2b Saturday 1st August Paeroa vs Mercury Bay Whangamata 11.15am Start 1a Saturday 1st August Whangamata vs Waihi Black Whangamata 11.15am Start 1b Saturday 1st August Thames vs Hauraki Whangamata 11.15am Start 2a Saturday 1st August Waihi Red vs Te Aroha Whangamata 11.15am Start 2b U9s DRAW: FESTIVAL DAY—WAIHI ATHLETIC Saturday 1st August Coromandel vs Waihi Red WAIHI 1a 10.00am Start Saturday 1st August Thames vs Waihi Black WAIHI 1b 10.00am Start Saturday 1st August Paeroa vs Te Aroha Waihi 1 10.00am Start Saturday 1st August Mercury Bay vs Tairua Waihi 2 10.00am Start Saturday 1st August Coromandel vs Tairua Waihi 1 11.15am Start Saturday 1st August Paeroa vs Mercury Bay WAIHI 1a 11.15am Start Saturday 1st August Waihi Black vs Waihi Red WAIHI 1b 11.15am Start Saturday 1st August Te Aroha vs Thames Waihi 2 11.15am Start U10s DRAW: FESTIVAL DAY —NGATEA Saturday 1st August Hauraki vs Waihi Ngatea 1a 11.00am Start Saturday 1st August Te Aroha vs Mercury Bay Ngatea 1b 11.00am Start Saturday 1st August Waihi vs Te Aroha Ngatea 1a 12.15pm Start Saturday 1st August Hauraki vs Mercury Bay Ngatea 1b 12.15pm Start U11s DRAW: FESTIVAL DAY—THAMES (RHODES PARK) Saturday 1st August Thames vs Waihi Red Rhodes Park 1 10.30am Start Saturday 1st August Coromandel vs Waihi Black Rhodes Park 2 10.30am Start Saturday 1st August Te Aroha vs Mercury Bay Rhodes Park 3 10.30am Start Saturday 1st August Whangamata vs Hauraki Rhodes Park 4 10.30am Start Saturday 1st August Thames vs Whangamata Rhodes Park 1 12.00pm Start Saturday 1st August Hauraki vs Te Aroha Rhodes Park 2 12.00pm Start Saturday 1st August Waihi Red vs Coromandel Rhodes Park 3 12.00pm Start Saturday 1st August Mercury Bay vs Waihi Black Rhodes Park 4 12.00pm Start U13s DRAW: FESTIVAL DAY—SPORTS PARK (WHITIANGA) Saturday 1st August Mercury Bay vs Whangamata Sports Park 1 11.00am Start Saturday 1st August Thames vs Paeroa Sports Park 2 11.00am Start Saturday 1st August Hauraki vs Waihi Sports Park 3 11.00am Start Saturday 1st August Mercury Bay vs Hauraki Sports Park 1 12.30pm Start Saturday 1st August Whangamata vs Paeroa Sports Park 2 12.30pm Start Saturday 1st August Thames vs Waihi Sports Park 3 12.30pm Start COLLEGE RUGBY Paeroa Domain set the scene for the Thames Valley Secondary Schools 1st XV Open Day. Three games were drawn to be played but sadly Te Aroha College withdrew from the competition meaning only two games would take place. The early game saw Whangamata Area School take on Hauraki Plains College 2nd XV, after a early arm wrestle Whangamata Area School took control scoring two very good tries Kiharoa Gilbert and Captain Callum Whatley with Keegan Pace adding one conversion. Whangamata went into the break 12-0. In the second half Whatley and Gilbert added another try each, while Isaac Cunningham and Rory Bathurst scored five points each, Pace added another conversion giving Whangamata a creditable 34 – 0. Players to stand out for Whangamata were captain Whatley who carried strongly with the ball in hand all game and received the man of the match, prop Kybah Aupouri-TeHuia was very good in the tight exchanges, while Cunningham and Bathurst had good games in the backline. For Hauraki Plains College 2nd XV brothers Josh and Max Van Hellemond had strong games in the locking position while midfield back Kalani Avery caught eye with a couple of good hit ups. In the late game between Hauraki Plains College 1st XV and Paeroa College, this game had every reason to be everything everyone expected, playing for the Provincial Transport Challenge Shield. Both teams exchanged tries early in the first ten minutes, before Hauraki Plains opened up scoring two tries, before Paeroa’s midfielder Rimu Alexander ripped through the defence just before haftime to close the gap to `17-10. In the second half Paeroa again found the try line to make the game as close it would get before Hauraki Plains ran away with three tries and two conversions before Paeroa College got a consolation try to finish the game. Hauraki Plains College 1st XV winning 31 – 20 Players to stand out for Hauraki Plains were front rowers Aidan Harrison and man of the match Cooper Bennett while in the backs Anthony Makiha directed the backs around wih precision including scoring a good try of his own. For Paeroa lock Cole Williams-Te Moananui had a strong game with ball in hand and number 8 Korbin Chwesik toiled away hard all game. Rimu Alexander was the pick of the Paeroa College backs with his sizzling pace and able to cut the opposition backline open a couple of times. It is back to normal this weekend with games spread across the region. Please see the draw below; U15 Boys DRAW: Saturday 1st Paeroa vs Thames High Paeroa 10.15am Start N/A August College School Saturday 1st Te Aroha vs Whangamata Te Aroha 10.15am Start N/A August College Area School Saturday 1st Waihi College vs Hauraki Plains Waihi 10.15am Start Marcus August West Howie Saturday 1st Hauraki vs Mercury Bay Hauraki Plains 10.15am Start Justin August Plains East Area School College Randall 1st XV Boys DRAW: Saturday 1st Mercury Bay vs Hauraki Plains Whitianga 11.30am Start Paul August Area School College 1st XV Graves Saturday 1st Hauraki vs Paeroa Hauraki Plains 11.30am Start Aaron August Plains 2nd XV College College Miller Saturday 1st Whangamata vs Waihi College Whangamata 12.15pm Start Stu August Area School Pinney CLUB RUGBY Waihou clinched a huge upset win against Mercury Bay on their 140th Anniversary Weekend. After a couple of results going against them over the last few weeks, Waihou knew they needed to fire if they were going to have any chance of a Semi Finals berth. Waihou opened the scoring through Sam McCahon, but Mercury Bay hit straight back with a penalty followed by an intercept try to Jayden Tegg. Waihou then weathered the storm and scored two more tries through Matthew McCahon and Joe Murray to take the Paul Herbert Trophy back to the Waihou Clubrooms with a 17-10 Victory. Whangamata continued their good run of form in front of a huge home crowd on their sponsors day. A gutsy Paeroa outfit chucked everything but the kitchen sink at Whangamata, however a clinical & accurate Whangamata were to much going on to win 58-5. After a fast start, Whangamata shot out to a 19-0 lead with 3 quick tries going to Zach Clarke, Pedro Garceres and Brendon McKeown. However, Paeroa hit back in quick succession scoring a try of their own through Cameron Bell. Paeroa then held the ball for the next 15 minutes, with their big physical ball carriers making meters up the middle. Unfortunately, they couldn’t keep up this tempo for the rest of the game, conceding 7 more tries on their way to another agonising loss. Jacob Chaplin & Jason Hayward had barnstorming matches for Whangmata, whilst Brodie Toia & Johnson McKain played well for Paeroa. Waihi scored 8 tries in their 50-31 victory over Thames to keep themselves in the hunt for a Semi Final. Dylan Horne scored a hat-trick whilst Max Wirihana-TaWake scored 2 tries for Waihi. Sione To’a also got his name in the hat-trick spotlight with 3 tries of his own, taking his season tally to 5 for the season. Unfortunately for Thames, Waihi were the better side throughout the match, with superior structure & fitness giving them the edge in their high scoring victory. COBRAS continued their winning streak with a tight 34-31 victory against Hauraki North in Waitakaruru. This was always going to be a testing battle been a ‘top of the table’ clash and with the score sitting at just 26-17 to COBRAS at half-time, both teams were well in the battle. It was once again Fijian powerhouse Sireli Kuraduadua who stamped his impact on the competition scoring 2 tries, as well as strong 2nd Five-Eighth Sione Vakapuna’etoni, Zac Stephens and Ben Stephens each scoring one. Jason Laurich scored 2 tries of his own for Hauraki North, however that wasn’t enough to get over the line in front of their home crowd losing 31-34. In the Senior Reserves, it was the battle of the titans be- tween Coromandel and Tairua.