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Hurricanes U16 Tournament Day 1 results

Club Rugby | 30 September 2013 | William Johnston

The Wellington U16 Development side today before their match against home side East Coast, which they won 83-0.?

Day 1 of the Hurricanes U16 tournament played in Ruatoria produced high scoring and entertaining matches.

Played in hot weather, the large crowds enjoyed what they saw at Whakarua Park. ?

Wellington and Hawke's Bay were winners in Pool A with Poverty Bay, Wanganui and Wellington Development were winners in Pool B.

Wellington's A and B side and Poverty Bay scored over 50 points, with Taranaki and Horowhenua/Kapiti were just pipped in their matches.

All referees bar one had yellow cards in their matches mostly for foul play, a total of seven all up.

Day 1 results:

Pool A:

Wellington 61 vs Manawatu 17
Hawkes Bay 18 vs Taranaki 17

Pool B:

Wellington Development 83 vs East Coast 0
Wanganui 27 vs Horowhenua/Kapiti 27
Poverty Bay 52 vs Wairarapa Bush 10

Tournament preview:

The Wellington U16 side are looking to make it three-in-a-row at this year's Hurricanes Youth Council U16 tournament? that is being held in Ruatoria next week.

After winning the Pool A Don Broughton Shield at home last year and in New Plymouth in 2011, Wellington will look to maintain their strong tournament momentum to defend their title this year.

The statistics show that Wellington are clear favourites leading up to the competition, but their campaign will be tough as they head to one of the most isolated parts of the Hurricanes catchment area.

In 2012, tournament hosts Wellington only leaked nine points in the tournament thanks to their strong defensive systems and scored 117 against their rivals. They accounted for Hawke’s Bay in the final day 29-0,? after beating Taranaki and Manawatu comfortably in the first two days of the tournament. ?Wellington will field two teams to expand the competition out to ten competing teams. ?

Teams in Pool A are: Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki and Manawatu.

Teams in Pool B are: Wellington Development, Poverty Bay, Wairarapa Bush, Wanganui, Horowhenua-Kapiti and East Coast.

In accordance with the competition rules, Manawatu were challenged for their place in Pool A by Poverty Bay last weekend but they defeated the challengers13-10.

Wellington U16 Development, who were runners up in Pool B last year, will fill out the competition and are representative players who missed out of the main A side.

The Development team were beaten by Poverty Bay 17-12 in the Saracens Cup Pool B competition? last year but won matches against Wanganui and Wairarapa Bush with a pre-season win against Horowhenua/Kapiti.

The Development side opened the Pool B competition last weekend with a 66-10 win over Wanganui U16 at Cooks Gardens.

Both Wellington teams travel up to the East Coast on the weekend.

A healthy 14 Wellington players were selected for last year’s 22-man Tournament Team, which rewarded players for their outstanding efforts during the course of the tournament.

Tournament information

What: Hurricanes Youth Council U16 tournament

Where: Ruatoria, East Coast

When: 30 September - 3 October (next Monday to Thursday)

Pool A draw:

Monday: Wellington v Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay v Taranaki
Tuesday: Wellington v Taranaki and Manawatu v Hawke’s Bay
Thursday: Wellington v Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki v Manawatu

Pool B draw:

Pre-tournament games last Saturday: Wellington Development beat Wanganui 66-10 and Wairarapa Bush beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 23-6

Monday: Wellington Development v East Cost, Poverty Bay v Wairarapa Bush and Horowhenua-Kapiti v Wanganui (friendly)

Tuesday: Wellington Development v Wairarapa Bush (friendly), Poverty Bay v Horowhenua-Kapiti and East Coast v Wanganui

Thursday: Winner B1 v Winner B2, Second B1 v Second B2 and Third B1 v Third B2