Hawkes Bay & Wellington Win Under 16 Titles In Palmerston North
The matches for the sixteenth Saracen’s Cup and the forty-ninth Don Broughton Shield titles were played at the magnificent Sport & Rugby Institute in Palmerston North today, with Hawkes Bay and Wellington emerging victorious, in contrasting circumstances.
Don Broughton Shield – (Division A Final)
Manawatu had high hopes of lifting the Shield aloft for only the fifth time since 1972 and with less than 15 minutes to play were imagining that success as a likely reality, with the score 26 points to 7 in favour of the green team, having scored two tries in the first half and two in the second.
However a yellow-card issued to a Manawatu player for a high tackle by referee Isaac Hughes midway through the second-half, tipped the balance back to Hawkes Bay’s advantage, resulting in two quick converted tries when Manawatu were playing with 14 men, narrowing the margin to only five points. In the final two minutes of play, a converted try was enough for Hawkes Bay to "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat", by 28 points to 26.
Today’s win was the twenty-third time that Hawkes Bay have won the Don Broughton Shield, the most times of any Provincial Union in the Hurricanes region.
In the play-off for third-place in 2021, played in Wellington, Wellington defeated Wairarapa-Bush by 55 points to 17, after leading by 31 points to nil at half-time.
Saracens Cup – (Division B Final)
Poverty Bay and Wellington (the defending Cup holders) had both scored maximum competition points in Division B’s preliminary fixtures, with the challengers (on paper) looking like serious contenders to lift the Cup for only the fifth time since it was first competed for in 2005.
However, it was not to be. Wellington defended their title scoring six unanswered tries before Poverty Bay scored a consolation touch-down toward the end of the game. The final score was 36 points to 5. The half-time score was 26 points to 0.
In other Division B Consolation Finals played today, 3rd place was won by Hawkes Bay (Development), with a victory at McLean Park against Horowhenua-Kapiti, by 41 points to 22. Fifth place was awarded to Whanganui after they defeated Ngati Porou East Coast by 34 points to 10 in Waipukurau.
(Photos courtesy of studioseventyfour.com)
(Published : 09/10/21)