Premier Women, Premier 2 Men get first wins
Our Premier Women and Premier 2 Men earned their first wins of the season, running in big scores in the glorious autumn sun. Our Premier Men lost a close game for the second week in a row.
The Premier Women started the day putting the Challenge Cup on the line after holding it while on hiatus. They easily dispatched Avalon in their first defence with a 68-0 victory. Halfback turned first five Lua Tugaga was rampant, running in six tries!
The Premier 2 Men basked in the sun with a 53-15 win over Upper Hutt; while the Colts had a close loss to the Rams by 22-28.
In the Swindale Shield match our Premier Men were guilty of another slow start, falling behind by 0-19 after 15 minutes. With veterans Isaia Petelo, Tui Tuiatua and James Zino - along with captain Jake Wetere - leading the charge, the team refused to roll over and fought their way back to a 24-24 tie at half time.
After briefly taking a 27-24 lead, the Red Machine failed to maintain the pressure and let the Rams take back the lead. With multiple attacking opportunities in the last 10 minutes, a come-from-behind win looked on the cards, but it wasn't to be. Final score 27-36 to the Rams.
Over on the turf our Under 85s were in great spirits heading into their first match of the season, but ran into grade 'heavyweights' Tawa first up, falling by 10-63.
Further afield, the Internationals were pushed hard by the OBU 'Righteous Pink Ginners' in a match played for the inaugural Bouzaid-Coyle Trophy; the men in red came out victorious by 36-31.
Rounding out the day's results were the Presidents, going down by 5-43 to Hutt Old Boys Marist.
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