TE HURINUI APANUI FINALE TAKEN OUT BY CENTRAL
May 15
Media Release
May 15th 2008
TE HURINUI APANUI FINALE TAKEN OUT BY CENTRAL
The Te Hurinui Apanui Shield will reside in Rotorua for the next twelve months after the Central Bay Sub-Union team ran away from Eastern Bay 55-13 on Wednesday night.
A mild night, greeted the two teams as they ran out on the Rotorua International Stadium, to contest the finale of the symbol of Sub-Union supremacy in the Bay of Plenty.
A strong start to the encounter saw the home team in control at the break to lead 27-3. Four tries in the first half were followed by a similar number in the second spell. Wayne Hughson who has recently returned from injury grabbed three touchdowns with Whakarewarewa player Paula Asaeli dotting down twice.
The icing on the cake for Central was provided by the kicks at goal by Kelly Haimona and Whakataki Cunningham who contributed 15 points with the boot. Whaka mid fielder Asaeli, who has recently been selected for Tonga, was one of the stars of the Central team with piercing runs and effective distribution of the ball.
While Eastern Bay showed determination for most of the match they found the Central pace attack hard to combat. For Eastern Bay Daniel Bowater and John Smith crossed for tries late in the match - to provide some consolation for a team that had been mainly shut out of the game.
Second place in the Shalfoon Shield competition, was the reward for the Central Bay Colts, who had an equally comfortable victory over their Eastern Bay counterparts. With Western Bay wrapping up the Shalfoon the previous week the two sides were playing for pride at the Rotorua Stadium.
The match was dominated by Siegfreid Fisiihoi who ran in five tries in the first half and a further touch down in the second spell. The 46 nil victory was set up through storming runs from Fisiihoi, a Bay of Plenty under 20 representative in 2007.
At the conclusion of the Colts series BOPRU Club Liaison Officer Steve Anderson said “the commitment of the Colts players to the sub-union series was impressive, with the three sub-union sides providing more players than they could accommodate on the field of play at each fixture” Anderson also added that “good form and combinations in the Central Bay senior representative side shone through in their series, with a number of Steamers and Development players providing the impetus for their success”.
The Bay of Plenty Steamers management will name a Wasps (BOP XV) team in the next week to contest fixtures against Waikato and Hawkes Bay in June.
Results
Central Bay Senior 55 (Wayne Hughson 3, Paula Asaeli 2, Josh Rauluni, Scott Bogun, Trent Sweeney tries; Kelly Haimona 3con, pen, Whakataki Cunningham 3con) Eastern Bay Senior 13 (Daniel Bowater, John Smith tries; Smith pen) HT 27-3.
Central Bay Colts 46 (Siegfreid Fisiihoi 6, Chirs van der Vlugt, Beau Kiel tries; John Wiringi 2con, Chucka Mike-Khan con) Eastern Bay Colts 0 HT 27-0.
For further information contact:
Mike Rogers BOPRU Rugby Development Manager 029 478 4292
Mike Rogers BOPRU Rugby Development Manager 029 478 4292
