Ories hang on to win first round Fleurs Trophy

Oriental-Rongotai survived a scare against Wainuiomata but hung on for a 22-15 win to claim the first round Premier Women's Fleurs Trophy on Saturday (pictured above - photo courtesy of Ories Rugby).

Just needing to beat Wainuiomata in their seventh and final round match to win the Fleurs Trophy, it was touch and go for the visiting Ories side right up until the final whistle with Wainuiomata pressing hard for a converted try that would have levelled up the scores.

In the end, Ories (who finished the first round unbeaten on 35 points) would still have won the Fleurs Trophy outright ahead of Norths (32 points), who banked maximum points from the last round when a depleted Stokes Valley defaulted to them the day before.

Nevertheless, it was with relief for Ories after being rocked early in the match and again when Wainuiomata came back at them in the fourth quarter.

With the form Ories had shown this season, the WRFU could have been forgiven for turning up early with the silverware. Having not conceded a point in their last 4 rounds, Ories were taken by surprise when Wainuiomata were the first on the board, scoring against the run of play.

?What followed was an arm wrestle as the two teams went try for try, with Wainuiomata not giving Ories anything without a fight.

With the Wellington weather pushing the majority of the play into the forwards, Wainuiomata's young forwards stepped up to the mark in the absence of their go-to locking duo, Jackie Patea and Moni Faaifo , play maker Acacia Claridge and captain Alice Soper. Set-piece was a problem for Ories as Wainuiomata continued their aerial dominance with Kiri Mei winning the majority of the lineout ball.

However, Ories, who were missing key players in their midfield, absorbed pressure and capitalised on mistakes. Their superior speed out wide proved telling,? leading to top points scorers first five-eighth Elizabeth Goulden and wing Jane Bryce scoring key tries. Goulden finished the first round with 74 points, while try sensation Bryce ended the first round Fleurs Trophy with 17 tries in five games played. Hooker Rosalina Tautuave and Annie Mativa also found the whitewash.

Wainuiomata fullback Sieni Mose looked set to spoil the party with a kick-chase at the end and when the referee blew on fulltime on Wainuiomata's attacking penalty, it was relief rather than elation for the Ories side.

In the two other games played to end the first round women's competition, Avalon beat OBU 28-10, to finish third behind Ories and Norths, and Poneke defeated Tawa 26-15.

Poneke beat Tawa in a forwards-orientated game, with all tries bring scored through their engine room including a brace from their captain and prop Trisha Kalolo-Apolinario.

In a game riddled with ill-discipline, with three yellow cards being issued, both teams capitalised with tit-for-tat tries as both teams slugged it out in extremely difficult conditions at Kilbirnie Park.

Tawa punished Poneke by catching them off guard and using their heavyweight runners in the mid field to create havoc in the opposition defensive line.

However Poneke held firm and with their forwards running off each other's shoulders as support players they crossed for four tries.??

As all teams go back to the drawing board for round two, the competition is just starting to heat up.

The next three weeks before the start of the second round Victoria Tavern Trophy sees a new series involving Wellington's and Manawatu's women's clubs, in a series of inter-provincial women's club rugby friendlies. The draw for these first set of matches this coming Saturday (to be confirmed) is:

• Eketahuna v Old Boys-University (Eketahuna)
• Foxton v Tawa (Playford Park, Levin)
• Feilding Old Boys Oroua v Wainuiomata (Playford Park, Levin)
• Linton v Massey (Linton)
• Ories v Poneke (Polo Ground)
• Norths v Kia Toa (Porirua Park)
• Stokes Valley, Stratford and Avalon byes.