Media Release 4 October 2010

Saturdays (2 October 2010) Bay of Plenty representative rugby program, produced three victories and nearly a century of points, on a day where true spring conditions rewarded attacking rugby.

In the main game at Blake Park in Mount Maunganui, the Bay Development team produced one of their finest performances in a number of seasons, when they defeated Auckland. The vital win booked the Bay second fifteen a prominent place in next weekend’s playoffs.

Auckland went on attack from the opening whistle, with the Bay spending plenty of time on defence in the opening quarter. Nick McCashin kept the home side in the match banging over penalty goals.

Another McCashin penalty put the Bay of Plenty side ahead 15-13 in the second spell. With the forwards dominating the set pieces the Bay pressure eventually told, with Chad Tuoro and Chris Elvin grabbing a touchdown apiece.

While the Bay led by six with five minutes remaining, the tide looked to have turned in the visitors favour when the referee awarded Auckland a penalty try. The successful conversion gave Auckland a one point lead. However the deficit spurred the Bay team to attack. and they were rewarded when McCashin slotted a superb 40 metre penalty in the last minute of play, to take out the encounter 29-27.

Team management praised the performances of Sam Cane and Nick McCashin, and the leadership displayed by the Steamers pair of John Moore and Chad Tuoro. Another to be singled out was Wayne Hughson who produced an outstanding defensive display.

The curtain raiser produced another outstanding Bay of Plenty performance, when the Bay Under 18 team cemented second place in the Northern Region competition with a 45-31 victory over Counties Manukau. Seven tries to the Bay side, rounded out a season where the local representatives tasted defeat on just one occasion.

The Bay tries were touched down by Nathan Harris, Aaron Carroll, Matt Axtens, Te Aihi Toma, Jacob Proctor, Marnus Hanley and Mike Shaw, with Jordan Ngatai-Poi converting four tries and Te Aihi Toma slotting a fifth conversion.

A winning performance by the Bay of Plenty Under 20 side rounded out Saturday’s representative results. Facing Northland at the Pakuranga Rugby Club in Auckland, the Bay of Plenty age group team posted a 20-5 win. A try apiece to Daryl Albert and Andrew Tuise, and two penalties and two conversions to Nick Evemy resulted in a significant victory for the Bay team.

On Sunday the two youngest Bay of Plenty representative squads had their turn in the limelight, when the Under 14 and 15 teams, took on their Waikato counterparts in Putaruru. While both the Waikato sides prevailed, the Bay sides never gave up the battle with both teams running in two tries apiece.

In the first game, Bay Under 14 youngsters Hamish Symes and Caleb Aperahama scored a try apiece, with Rikihana Borrell adding two conversions. Later in the afternoon, it was the turn of Jayden Tane and Wemin Kapia to run the Waikato defence ragged in the Under 15 encounter. Opotiki College player Peeti Delamere-Keane converted one of the Bay of Plenty touchdowns.

BOPRU Representative Results 2/3 October 2010

October 2
Development: BOP 29 (Chris Elvin, Chad Tuoro tries; Nick McCashin 5 pens 2 cons) Auckland 27.
Under 20: BOP 20 (Daryl Albert, Andrew Tuise tries; Nick Evemy 2 pens 2 cons) Northland 5.
Under 18: BOP 45 (Nathan Harris, Aaron Carroll, Matt Axtens, Te Aihi Toma, Jacob Proctor, Marnus Hanley, Mike Shaw, Jordan Ngatai-Poi 4 con, T Toma con) Counties Manukau 31.

October 3
Under 15: Waikato 32 BOP 12 (Jayden Tane, Wemin Kapia tries; Peeti Delamere-Keane con)
Under 14: Waikato 27 BOP 14 (Hamish Symes, Caleb Aperahama tries; Rikihana Borrell 2 con)

For further information contact:
Mike Rogers BOPRU Operations Manager
DDI 07 927 1316 029 478 4292