PAKURANGA Jaguars premier rugby league side have turned their season around after securing their first Sharman Cup win, a convincing 28-10 victory over Bay-Roskill last Saturday.
Played in atrocious conditions at Ti Rakau Park, a sudden torrential downpour at kick-off didn’t do the players any favours but Pakuranga were still able to dominate in defence and attack.
Impact centre Saimone Osai got the ball rolling for the Jaguars with a straightforward try, converted by fullback Luke Chapman.
Despite Bay-Roskill hitting right back with a try, they never looked like they were in the game.
The Jaguars then put on a flurry of tries including a nice little grubber from halfback Stacey Mahara, who used the muddy surface perfectly to send Chapman diving in for his first try in the Sharman Cup.
Bay-Roskill scored another after eventually breaking Pakuranga’s tight defensive line, but any slim hope of catching up on the Jaguars was dashed when Osai hit the visitors with two more tries, giving himself a hat-trick for the day.
The match finished firmly in Pakuranga’s hands with a 28-10 win.
Osai, whose hat-trick gave him his eighth try in just three weeks, taking his season tally to 12, says scoring tries is a plus, as performing his duties on the field is what he prioritises. “I’m pretty used to it now. I go out there to do my job and scoring a try is just a bonus.”
Pakuranga coach Darren Smith was full of praise for his Jaguars. “I just take my hat off to the team, especially the forwards. It was good to see the backs get ball. We stuck to our game plan and kept the ball in hand,” says Smith. Hard running prop Andrew Sau was Smith’s player of the day.
Meanwhile, over at Walter Massey Park last Saturday, Howick Hornets had a convincing win against Mangere East 36-10.
After weeks of playing on muddy pitches, Howick were pleased to find the field in reasonable condition. The Hornets scored 26 unanswered points and dominated all areas of the game.
The Hornets put on five tries in a first half blitz, with Fua Talafua, Cam McCleery, Jason Tavita, Aidan Howard and Gary Natoealofa all dotting down. Straight after the break, the Hornets were at it again, scoring two quick tries to Howard and Tavita. But for the last 25 minutes Mangere East fought hard to post two tries, keeping the Hornets scoreless.
Howick coach Paul Davys says their first half was clinical and he was pleased with the side’s entertaining style of play. “When the boys play like that I get the luxury of watching the game through the eyes of a spectator and not so much through the eyes of a coach,” says Davys.
“They played to a high standard in all aspects of the game, but our last 25 minutes was poor in not finishing the opposition off.”
