U85 kg Finals both thrillers as representative games yield contrasting results

Above: The Tawa Titans clearing the danger close to their line once more in today's U85 kg Division 1 final at Evans Bay Park

Today's two Wellington club rugby U85 kg championship grade finals went down to the wire, while the Wellington Pride lost emphatically to the Otago Spirit and the Wellington U19s thrashed their Bay of Plenty counterparts in two representative matches today.

There was heartbreak followed by joy for Marist St Pat's club teams competing in the two U85 kg Division 1 and 2 finals at Evans Bay Park this afternoon, with the Wellington Axemen pipping the MSP Reds side 16-15 in the Division 2 Moody Cup final and then the MSP Blues edging out their great rivals the Tawa Titans 6-3 in the Division 1 Paul Potiki Shield final that followed.

Both finals were decided on almost the last plays of the game.

The MSP Reds conceded the match winning try to the Axemen with just a few minutes left on the clock and then missed a long-range penalty in the final seconds that had the accuracy but fell short of the bar.

The MSP Blues defeated the Tawa Titans on penalties, with first five-eighth Mark Houghton breaking the 3-3 deadlock late in the game with a penalty in front.

Tawa, who played the majority of the final quarter with 14 players after their second five-eighth and their replacement hooker were sin-binned for separate incidents, were restored to their full complement of players for one final assault on MSP at the death.

Missing a penalty from halfway that would've forced extra time, Tawa maintained in the ascendancy and it came down to an attacking scrum at the end. Peeling off the back of the set-piece, Tawa No. 8 Sam Butters created a half break but the movement was just snuffed out and moments later the MSP players were celebrating the fulltime whistle and their fifth straight Paul Potiki Shield title.

In a gripping final, neither side could break through, and both missed key chances to create more pressure through a combination of unforced errors and staunch defence. Tawa led 3-0 at halftime courtesy of a penalty to left wing ?Joe Denyer. Houghton evened the ledger back up early in the second half and it remained close.

Tawa's first sin-binning could've been a turning point, and MSP eventually went within a whisker to being awarded a try but the ball was ruled to have been knocked on over the chalk.? The Titans held firm and conceded just a second penalty, which proved to be enough for the home side.

In Rotorua, the Wellington U19s earned a comprehensive 60-12 win over Bay of Plenty U19 in their final warm-up match before the official build-up to the National U19 tournament in Taupo begins next week when they play Manawatu. Wellington led 22-7 at halftime and pulled clear after the interval. As a yardstick of sorts, BoP defeated Hawke's Bay U19 29-0 last weekend.

At the Petone Recreation Ground, the Wellington Pride went down 12-33 to the Otago Spirit, ensuring a none from five start for Wellington men's and women's teams to start this year's NPC competitions.

For the first 60 minutes of their contest, the Pride were out played at the breakdowns, over powered at scrum time and they dropped off far too many tackles. Consequently they weren't able to mount enough pressure on their opposites.

Capitalising on a succession of errors and turnovers, Otago scored two first half tries and led 18-0 at halftime, with tries to loosehead prop Phillipa Love and left wing Claire Richardson who finished off a lovely team try on the other side of the field from an attacking lineout.

Otago first five-eighth Victoria Subritzky-Nafataili extended the lead to 21-0 early in the second half and then things went from bad to worse when the visitors won a turnover deep inside their own half and peeled of a raking kick that rolled into touch just out from Wellington's line. The Pride defended the lineout but couldn't break out of their own territory and conceded a slew of penalties and soon Otago flanker Georgia Mason crashed over to make to 26-0.

Making some substitutions and needing to dig deep, the Pride played much better over the remainder of the contest, their extra commitment ?and patience leading to a well-deserved try to lock Joanah Ngan-Woo to close the gap to 26-7.

But the match was perhaps summed well from the next play. Wellington knocked the ball on from the kick-off, Otago pounced back into the Pride's 22 and centre Greer Muir crossed for a soft try. Flyhalf Subritzky-Nafataili added the extras to the bonus point try and it was now 33-7 to Otago.

The Pride fought back and scored a well-taken consolation try to fullback turned right wing Jamie McIntosh at the end.

The Pride's next match is against the powerful Auckland Storm side in Auckland next Saturday.

?