Visitors win Piri Weepu 7s tournament

Above: Action in the Cup semi-final between the Napier Pirates and home side Wainuiomata at today’s Piri Weepu 7s. Napier won the semi-final before losing to Ngamatapouri in the final.

Wanganui raiders Ngamatapouri are the 2015 Piri Weepu Invitational 7s champions.

Ngamatapouri beat visiting Hawke’s Bay club Napier Pirates 33-24 in the Men’s Cup final today at William Jones Park after both sides had shut out Wellington clubs in the semi-finals.

Ngamatapouri and Napier Pirates were deserved finalists, both playing with superior energy and organisation all day. The Cup final was evenly contested, with 2015 Hawke’s Bay 15s champions Napier Pirates pouncing on two early errors to take a 14-0 lead. Ngamatapouri bounced back to trail 19-21 at halftime and then sailed to victory with a strong wind behind them.

Earlier, Ngamatapouri had beaten Old Boys University 12-5 in their Cup semi-final with a vocal band of supporters cheering them on. and Napier Pirates had defeated home team Wainuiomata 17-10.

Ngamatapouri said they came into this tournament with recent tournament wins in the Wanganui club 7s and Manawatu Fijian 7s events. They will be back to Wainuiomata on Waitangi weekend to contest the National Club 7s Championship.

The women’s section was won by Marist St Pat’s who defeated Hutt Old Boys Marist 29-0 in the final.

Ngati Toa edged Marist St Pat’s 17-15 to claim the Plate final, while the Upper Hutt Rams overcame the Manawatu Fijians 24-19 in the Bowl final.

The tournament was played in fine, windy weather after the clearance of early rain.

There were a series of close matches in the morning rounds, with OBU and MSP involved in two early thrillers, MSP beating the Manawatu Fijians 14-10 in the first game of the day and OBU then beating the same team 27-26. MSP and OBU then played out a 17-17 draw.

Another close match in pool play was the Napier Pirates beating the Upper Hutt Rams 15-12. An understrength American Ambassador’s champion Rams side also lost to Poneke in the morning matches.

The competition was reduced by two teams overnight with the late withdrawal by Northern United men’s and women’s entries owing to a bereavement at the club.

In addition, several teams fielded players who normally play for other clubs, with Oriental Rongotai and Tawa players in particular scattered throughout other sides.

No Wellington representative players were playing on the day, but several were involved in waterboy and coaching capacities.

Thus concludes club rugby in Wellington for 2015.

Piri Weepu Invitational 7s results (all results provisional)

Men’s Pool Play:
MSP 14 – Manawatu Fijians 10
Ngamatapouri 19 – Wellington Flyers 14
Wainuiomata 27 – Ngati Toa 0
Poneke 24 – Upper Hutt Rams 15
OBU 27 – Manawatu Fijians 26
Kapiti Barbarians 34 – Wellington Flyers 19
Napier Pirates 15 – MSP 12
MSP 17 – OBU 17
Ngamatapouri 26 – Kapiti Barbarians 15
Napier Pirates 36 – Poneke 14

Women’s Pool Play:
HOBM 21 – MSP 17
MSP 38 – Napier Pirates 12
HOBM 24 – Napier Pirates 5

Men’s Bowl semi-final:
Manawatu Fijians 17 – Wellington Flyers 14

Men’s Plate semi-finals:
MSP 45 – Kapiti Barbarians 0 and Ngati Toa 40 – Poneke 12

Men’s Cup semi-finals:
Ngamatapouri 12 – OBU 12 and Napier Pirates 17 – Wainuiomata 10

Men’s Bowl final:
Upper Hutt Rams 24 – Manawatu Fijians 19

Women’s final:
MSP 29 – HOBM 0

Men’s Plate final:
Ngati Toa 17 – MSP 15

Men’s Cup final:
Ngamatapouri 33 – Napier Pirates 24