News Archive: June 2009

We had all been looking forward to a lie in and a Home Draw this week after our early start and long drive last week but a late change to the draw meant that we had to travel to Tokoroa. After lots of phone calls, meetings in school and hand delivered messages we managed to get 16 team members assembled to travel at 8.30. We arrived at Forest View to find the place like the Marie Celeste – deserted! The matches were to be played at the Community sports ground in Tokoroa! Back into the cars and down the road we went with just enough time for a short warm-up before the game began. Once again we were slow off the mark and Forest View caught us napping. They seemed well organised, they had a couple of quick boys to whom we gave too much space and they ran through to put points on the board. A well-placed kick from about half way saw Joey chase – a straight sprint against a Forest View player which he won to touch the ball down and score in the corner. Heads lifted as the lads realised they could score; we were consistently winning scrums and defending well but our tackling, with a few notable exceptions, was poor, and Forest View came back with two more tries before half-time. At 28 – 5 down the coaches decided to make the most of Joey’s speed and shifted him from the wing to 2nd five, Kendra went to Full Back and Lachlan moved to Centre. The changes had an effect almost immediately, the backs started moving the ball more fluidly, space opened up and Rikki ran through to score a well deserved try. He had a great game, tackling and running well. There was suddenly a determination and desire to get the ball and we were winning the battle for territory. Forest View scored again but we came back twice more with Jason and Kendra both finding the try line. We finished strongly and showed that we have the talent to compete at this level... just need to start playing when the whistle blows rather than half way in to the match! A game of two halves – we lost the first but won the second. Final score 38 – 20 to Forest View.
Anne Robertson

This was our final match being played out of Hamilton. Unfortunately Hillcrest U14 lost to Forest View 5 -46.
Sickness again played a major part , as we only had 1 reserve. It also meant that we had a lot of the team playing out of position, including 2 forwards playing in the backs for their first time.
Forest View had 3 or 4 good runners with the ball and it was only poor tackling by Hillcrest that saw these players make a lot of ground. Forest View seemed to have more hunger for the ball as on many occasions, Hillcrest looked as thought they were waiting for the opposition to pick it up.
Our only try came when Gordon Pearson scored after some great follow-up forward play, which made the half time score 17 – 5 to Forest View.
Unfortunately the try was our only points and although there was some promising forward play, Hillcrest had a couple of unsuccessful chances to score. Standout players were Josh Edwards, Sonny Rau and Gordon Pearson.
A big thanks to the parents who transported the boys to and from the match.
The next game is against Hamilton Boys High School B at Hillcrest on Saturday. None of the remaining 5 matches will be easy, but in our favour is that the next 4 games are being played at Hillcrest.
Mark Eldridge

What was going to be a home match was a late change, which meant that we had a 2 hour trip to Taumarunui. To make matters worse we only had 10 minutes to warm up and were soundly beaten 14 to 38.
Although Taumarunui had the bigger pack, our team never gave up. The lack of preparation soon showed and Taumarunui was scoring at regular intervals. Our first half try was scored by Sean Rudman who showed a lot of pace with a run away try.
We were down 7 – 21 at half time and were unlucky not to score on many other occasions. During the last 10 minutes, Hillcrest dominated territory but unfortunately couldn’t turn the domination into points.
Our second half try was scored by Kapri George who followed up on an up & under kick made by Sonny Rau.
This was definitely our worse game to date, but not surprising because of the long trip and only 8 players being able to train during the week, mainly because of sickness.
Standout players were Travis Amai, Sonny Rau and Ihaka Barton.
Try scorers were; Sean Rudman & Kapri George. Sonny Rau was successful with 2 conversions.
A big thanks to the parents and relations who transported the boys to and from the match.
The next game is against Forest View High at Tokoroa on Saturday. It will be a tough match as Forest View had beaten Taumarunui 24 -12 2 weeks prior. This will be our last ‘out of Hamilton’ match with the following 4 matches being at home and the final match being at St Johns High.
Mark Eldridge

A cold but bright and sunny morning saw 20 – yes 20(a record)! – team members assemble at HHS for the journey down to Taumarunui at 8am. Definitely heard some zzzz’s in my car as the boys took advantage of a couple of hours extra sleep. We arrived, just had time to stretch and were straight out on to the field after a very quick warm up. Taumarunui struck quickly and before we could blink they were 3 tries up. I think we were still asleep! Matt took advantage of an early penalty to put 3 points on the board. The initial shock over, we started to put some passes together, worked hard in the scrums and contested line-outs well. Taumarunui had a few strong players who, when they got the ball, ran hard and sidestepped round tackles to get well-earned tries. More of the team need to nail those tackles and step up more quickly if we are to stem the flow of tries against us. In the 2nd half we woke up a bit and had a few chances to score. However, Taumarunui defended well and despite them losing two players to the sin bin we couldn’t capitalise. We also defended well with notable performances from Matt who battled away and was in the middle of everything and Johnny who tackled like a demon. Rikky and Lachlan both put in a fair few tackles and generally put pressure on running players, and Joel, taking advantage of a bye in the In-line hockey to turn out for us, had a good run out. It was a good match in beautiful surroundings and stunning weather; a steep learning curve for the team but hopefully they will respond and be inspired to keep on improving. A great turn out boys – well done for being there and working hard. Awesome effort! See you at training!

Anne Robertson

On a rain-soaked morning, 17 rugby-hungry U15 boys turned up to play Morrinsville. The second of our matches since qualifying for the A grade competition, and hoping for a better result than last week. Fortunately, as the whistle blew the rain eased off and the sun came out. Morrinsville looked the more organised team from the outset, passing well and confident in their set pieces. An early penalty saw them go 3 up. However, our boys showed character and quickly equalised. As the game went on they showed why they deserved to be in the A grade competition; some fluid passing, solid tackling, and good recovery play. Morrinsville dominated the scrums and lineouts and the first try came from a scrum close to the try line. Once again our boys responded quickly as Tahi powered his way through several defenders to score just before half-time. In the 2nd half we defended well as Morrinsville piled on the pressure. We conceded a penalty on the 22 which Morrinsville opted to run and they took advantage of open space and scored. The next 20 minutes saw us continually making good ground only to lose the ball. However, grit, determination and sheer doggedness kept us battling and in the 80th minute Matt took the ball from Ricky and ran – only one thing on his mind - the try line! Score levelled, time up, and Matt had the opportunity to convert his own try for a win. A tall order, and a valiant attempt, but it was not to be. A great effort all round, lads.
Anne Robertson

The Hillcrest U14’s won 24 -19 against St Pauls. The team have had numerous players off sick and with 5 minutes before starting time we only had 14 players. Thankfully, a player who has been sick turned up just before the game started. This meant that we could start with a full team, although a lot of them were still unwell and there were no reserves.
Before we new it, St Pauls had put on 12 unanswered points early in the game, mainly due to poor tackling. That must have been a wake up call for Hillcrest, as they put on 17 unanswered points and were leading 17 – 12 at half-time.
During the 2nd half Hillcrest scored a converted try and it wasn’t until late in the game that St Pauls scored a converted try. St Pauls spent the last few minutes of the game attacking Hillcrest’s ‘line’, so it was a fantastic effort by Hillcrest to hold them out, especially with so many unwell players.
Although most of the team played well, standout players were Fergus Schumacher, Josh Edwards and Connor Brodribb.
Try scorers were; Matt Watkins, Josh Edwards, Huw Elias & Fergus Schumacher. Fergus was also successful with 1 conversion, as was Sonny Rau with a very wide out conversion and only just missing another.
The next game is against Taumaranui at Hillcrest next Saturday.
Mark Eldridge

After 3 weeks of dominating the opposition in the ‘B’ division, the Hillcrest U14’s this time went down 42 -14 to a well drilled TeKuiti team. TeKuiti had won their 3 previous grading games in the ‘A’ division.
Unfortunately a lot of the team and reserves are and have been unwell, but they were still worthy competition.
Playing up hill in the first half, it was only poor tackling and lack of support play which saw Hillcrest down 27 – 7 at the end of the half. Playing down hill and with the wind behind them in the second half, Hillcrest had more territory than they did in the first half, but there was still poor tackling, lack of support play and defence lapses. The team played better and only lost 15 – 7 in the second half.
Try scorers were; Josh Edwards and Huw Elias. Huw was also successful with his 2 conversions.
Overall, they didn’t look inferior to TeKuiti and still have good prospects for forth-coming matches. The next game is against St Pauls at St Pauls next Saturday.
Mark Eldridge

In this 3rd game of 3 grading games against Hamilton Boys High White, Hillcrest U14’s won 25 to 10 and therefore remain undefeated. As with the 2 previous games, this game was played on a sunny day. With only 3 reserves, the team put up a big effort to not only stay competitive, but to win the game.
There were many stand out players but Thomas Dickson led from the front, with the loose forward trio of Lance Forbes, Shaun Nicholson and Mitchell Pikia all attacked and defended well. Both Fergus Schumacher and Matt Watkins had strong games in the backline.
Try scorers were; Kapri George, Sean Rudman, Sonny Rau, Fergus Schumacher & Hannes Marais.
The team is now into the ‘A’ division after winning 3 from 3 matches in the ‘B’ division. Exciting times are ahead for the team and we await the new draw with the competition starting on Saturday June 6th.
Mark Eldridge

Primary links

News Archive