Latest news with #Kaikorai
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Small in stature, big on commitment
Southern player Utalia Moataane, 6, charges on at the annual Taieri sevens junior rugby tournament, at Mosgiel's Peter Johnstone Park yesterday. PHOTOS: GREGOR RICHARDSON. At least 1000 young rugby players faced off on the field during an annual tournament in Dunedin yesterday. About 75 teams gathered at Mosgiel's Peter Johnstone Park for the annual Taieri sevens junior rugby tournament. Ollie Batt, 6, of the Taieri Rugby Football Club, scored the first try in a match against Kaikorai. His mother Leonie Hamilton said from the sidelines she was "pretty excited" about his performance. Taieri Gold player Ollie Batt, 6, sprints towards the try line to score against Kaikorai. It was his first time playing in the seven-a-side tournament, taking after his older brother who already had a history at the event, she said. "He follows in [his brother's] footsteps ... and he's rugby mad. "Rugby is definitely his sport." The tournament was open to children in year 2 to those in year 8, from the wider Otago region. Alyssa Johnson, 8, of the Green Island Rugby Club, takes possession of the ball. Tournament official Tania Burton estimated at least 1000 children were joined by another thousand spectators at this year's tournament. While it was a lot of work, it was a lot of enjoyment too, she said. It was very much a "community-driven event". "Everyone looks forward to the sevens — all the refs, all the clubs. "It's an absolute standout of our year of rugby." This year's tournament was their second using an app for the draw and to display up-to-date live scores. A focus on sideline behaviour also featured this year, she said. "It's not always about the winners and losers, it's justeveryone having a great day."
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Round ends with virtual final
Green Island halfback James Arscott attempts to clear the ruck during a Dunedin division 1 game against Taieri at Peter Johnstone Park at the weekend. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON Club rugby fans will essentially be treated to a final tomorrow. Round one wraps up and the competition is tight at the top. The defending champions Green Island (27 points) lead the standings, but they have a bye. So that means whoever wins the heavyweight clash between Taieri (26 points) and Dunedin (25 points) at Peter Johnstone Park will move into pole position and claim the Speight's Jug as the first-round winner. Harbour (24 points) play University (17 points) at the University Oval in another important fixture. University are outside the top six and they will not want to slip further behind. They are still missing Ricky Jackson, Steve Salelea, Jeremiah Asi, Mac Harris and Mika Muliaina, who are on duty for New Zealand Universities. That is a talented chunk of players. The other two games could be one-way traffic. Kaikorai (20 points) will head to Montecillo Park to play Zingari-Richmond (seven points), who have been labouring this season. Their only win was against the winless Alhambra-Union (one point) in the opening game of the season. AU play Southern (23 points) at Bathgate Park. The Magpies are fresh from an impressive 31-15 win against Kaikorai. They should have too much strength up front for the visitors. They demolished Kaikorai at scrum time last weekend. After the round, the teams will be ranked into two pools. The teams which placed 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will play crossover games against the teams which placed 2, 4, 6 and 8. As all teams in the odds pool receive an extra bye, additional points will be added at the end of the regular season based on their finishing position in the pool. Points will be allocated as follows: the highest ranked team will get five points, the second-ranked team gets four points and so on. The last-placed team gets one point. Hopefully, that is as clear as home brew. When you have an odd number of teams playing an odd number of fixtures, it all gets a bit murky.
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Green Island on top in fired-up derby
Green Island retained the bragging rights in the derby game against Taieri. There was a lot of feeling in the match at Peter Johnston Park on Saturday. There was pushing and shoving and only some of that was during scrum time. Taieri dominated for stretches but they made far too many mistakes and were perhaps too one-dimensional on attack. Green Island had more finishing ability and winger Michael Manson only needs half a yard and he is gone. The Grizzlies led 14-10 at halftime. They did not start well, though. They lost a player to the bin in the opening 10 minutes and another late in the half. Taieri had discipline problems as well. Josh Whaanga had to spend some time on the naughty step for snatching an intercept from an offside position and Sam Fischli received a yellow in the second half. The game slipped away from Taieri when Manson made another of his trademark runs in the second half to set up a try for Sam Gilbert. And then Sam Nemec-Vial scooped up a loose pass and ran in from around 60m. Taieri scored two late tries to close the gap and secure a bonus point. Whaanga had a good game for Taieri despite his yellow card. Manson made a difference for Green Island and loose forward Amos Roddick was a standout. — Adrian Seconi Southern 31 Kaikorai 15 Death by scrum. A bit dramatic perhaps, but it must have felt like that for Kaikorai. Southern leaned on the heavy-set men up front to set up a 31-15 win at Bishopscourt. Prop Mike Mata'afa pushes hard enough for two men. Hooker Isileli Otunuku had a strong game around the field. Hardworking lock Corban Agar and Aron Einarsson added their weight to an impressive scrum, and Harry Taylor popped up exactly where he was needed on defence. Centre Justin Malifa was dangerous when he got the ball in space. Kaikorai started strongly, though. They held on to the ball for phase after phase during the opening few minutes. They went left, right, left and right again. Eventually, they busted through close to the ruck and halfback Taine Hand got in support and scored. Kaikorai's ability to use width was propped by their excellent loose forward duo of Slade McDowall and Lucas Casey, who enhanced their reputations. But the game started to slip away one scrum at a time. Southern dominated possession and territory. They also dominated unforced errors. They blew so many opportunities in the first half and went into the break trailing 15-7. But Kaikorai just did not have an answer for their power up front and Southern scored four answered tries in the second half to secure an important win. — Adrian Seconi Harbour 48 Alhambra-Union 27 A first-half scoring blitz set Harbour up for victory in the Rooster Memorial match at Watson Park on Saturday. The annual match between Harbour and Alhambra-Union, formerly known as the Ricoh Ross Godman Memorial, played since 2014, now honours both Godman brothers with the death of Roy last year, and has been renamed the Rooster Memorial, as both Ross and Roy were known to many as Rooster. Harbour fullback Taniela Filimone set the first quarter alight with a scoring blitz in the opening minutes. This was quickly followed by a procession of four further scoring moves for a 31-0 lead after just 20 minutes. Harbour may have bolted out to a dominant lead, but Alhambra-Union began to regroup. Their smaller but more mobile pack began to stop the Harbour big men in their tracks. Halfback Oliver Thode and twin brother William, at first five, made great use of the increasing possession. Loose forward Connor Aldrich and lock Levi Turoa proved a force in the lineout. Oliver, who scored twice himself, played a major role in his sides other three tries and was a standout. He put plenty of pressure on his opposite and Highlander Nathan Hastie. For Harbour, Filimone was always a danger when running the ball up. While the Harbour defence was outstanding out wide, it was aided by some superb work up front from flanker Toni Taufa, locks Carlos Miln and Boston Hunt and prop Darius Fidow. — Wayne Parsons Dunedin 69 Zingari-Richmond 7 Apart from the opening few minutes, Dunedin totally dominated this game. They spent large periods of the first half camped in the Zingari 22. They were held up over the line on three occasions and only had a Cam Burgess penalty to show for their early endeavour. That changed when hooker Liam Arthur Hunt kicked a 50-22 and, from the quickly taken lineout, lock Jamie Mowat crashed over for the converted try to give them a 10-point lead after 17 minutes. They scored two more tries before halftime to Louis Lepionka (No 8) and fullback Max Webb and that took its toll on a tired looking Zingari pack with still 40 minutes to play. Dunedin racked up 7 further tries in the second spell with big winger Oscar Schmidt-Uli grabbing a hat-trick. He just had too much pace and power for the Zingari backline. Lepionka added a second showing searing pace as he scorched down the left wing. Joe Parkinson the centre scored the try of the game when Dunedin counter-attacked from a turnover 70m out and the ball went through five sets of hands and found Parkinson to cut back in from the touchline to go over close to the posts. The Dunedin pack controlled the lineouts and dominated possession in the loose and their speedy outside backs didn't squander the glut of possession. Dunedin flanker Curtis Palmer was everywhere and a menace with ball in hand as was prop Rhys Hughes. Young No 8 Louis Lepionka showed his full range of skills and extreme pace. Burgess ran the game and set his outsides away with aplomb. Schmidt-Uli and fullback Webb took full advantage of that opportunity. With regular hooker Aukustino Salanoa disappearing to Southland during the week, Zingari really struggled to maintain possession at lineout team and that didn't help. No 8 Tofatuimoana Solia looked powerful with ball in hand in the first spell and Ben Fakava was the best of the backs. — Paul Dwyer Round 8 The scores Green Island 26 (Sam Nemec-Vial, Michael Manson, James Arscott, Sam Gilbert tries; Gilbert 3 con), Taieri 20 (Reef Newdick, Morgan Jones, Jack Sexton tries; Samuel Waitoa con, pen). Halftime 14-10. Southern 31 (Harry Taylor, Konrad Toleafoa, Wilson Driver, Bede Dodd-Edgar, Mika Mafi tries; Wyndham Patuawa 3 con), Kaikorai 15 (Taine Hand, Slade McDowall tries; Ben Miller con, pen). Halftime: 15-7 Kaikorai. Harbour 48 (Taniela Filimone, Jeff Ikanei, Taylor Dale, Willie Tufui, Nathan Hastie, Wiremu Brailey, Toni Taufa, Carlos Miln tries; Nathan Hastie 4 con), Alhambra-Union 27 (Oliver Thode 2, Anzac Tipene, Arnold Dinh, Ramesh Khatri tries, William Thode con). Halftime: 36-5. Dunedin 69 (Oscar Schmidt Uli 3, Louis Lepionka 2, Max Webb, Jamie Mowat, Joe Parkinson, Cam Burgess, Jarius Losefa tries; Burgess 8 con, pen Zingari-Richmond 7 (Ben Fakava try; Cooper Grant con) Halftime: Dunedin 22-0. Standings P W D L F A B Pts Green Is 8 5 0 3 269 199 7 27 Taieri 7 5 0 2 235 136 6 26 Dunedin 7 5 0 2 234 97 5 25 Harbour 7 5 0 2 189 207 4 24 Southern 7 4 0 3 238 161 7 23 Kaikorai 7 4 0 3 257 187 4 20 University 7 3 0 4 248 223 5 17 Z-Rich 7 1 0 6 179 327 3 7 AU 7 0 0 7 114 426 1 1
Otago Daily Times
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Dunedin premier rugby round eight wrap-up
Harbour beat AU 48-27 today at Watson Park. Photo: Max Quinn Southern scrummed their way to a 31-15 win against Kaikorai in a Dunedin division 1 game at Bishopscourt today. The Magpies were utterly dominant and shoved the underpowered Kaikorai pack around. Prop Mike Mata'afa is worth two men in the scrum and hooker Isileli Otunuku shone as well. Hard-working locks Corban Agar and Aron Einarsson and openside flanker Harry Taylor leaned their weight to the scrum and got around the field. Centre Justin Malifa was threatening when he got the ball in space. Kaikorai started promisingly with a lovely team try. They swung it left, right, left, right before eventually busting through close to the ruck. They led 15-7 at halftime but they could not match Southern's power and the match drifted away. Kaikorai first five Ben Miller made some colossal clearances and loosies Slade McDowall and Lucas Casey impressed in a losing effort. Green Island made the most of their opportunities to beat Taieri in the "Battle of the Saddle" at Peter Johnstone Park. They led 26-10 at one stage but Taieri rallied with two late tries. All the Otago premier and division 1 teams observed a minute of silence for Otago rugby stalwart Tuppy Diack, who died in Dunedin yesterday morning. His grandson, Morgan Jones, scored for Taieri. Dunedin thumped Zingari-Richmond 75-7 at Kettle Park and Harbour dispatched Alhambra-Union 48-27 at Watson Park. AU did pick up a bonus point for four tries, which is their first points this season.
Otago Daily Times
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Dunedin club rugby round eight wrap-up
Harbour beat AU 48-27 today at Watson Park. Photo: Max Quinn Southern scrummed their way to a 31-15 win against Kaikorai in a Dunedin division 1 game at Bishopscourt today. The Magpies were utterly dominant and shoved the underpowered Kaikorai pack around. Prop Mike Mata'afa is worth two men in the scrum and hooker Isileli Otunuku shone as well. Hard-working locks Corban Agar and Aron Einarsson and openside flanker Harry Taylor leaned their weight to the scrum and got around the field. Centre Justin Malifa was threatening when he got the ball in space. Kaikorai started promisingly with a lovely team try. They swung it left, right, left, right before eventually busting through close to the ruck. They led 15-7 at halftime but they could not match Southern's power and the match drifted away. Kaikorai first five Ben Miller made some colossal clearances and loosies Slade McDowall and Lucas Casey impressed in a losing effort. Green Island made the most of their opportunities to beat Taieri in the "Battle of the Saddle" at Peter Johnstone Park. They led 26-10 at one stage but Taieri rallied with two late tries. All the Otago premier and division 1 teams observed a minute of silence for Otago rugby stalwart Tuppy Diack, who died in Dunedin yesterday morning. His grandson, Morgan Jones, scored for Taieri. Dunedin thumped Zingari-Richmond 75-7 at Kettle Park and Harbour dispatched Alhambra-Union 48-27 at Watson Park. AU did pick up a bonus point for four tries, which is their first points this season.
