Club Rugby semifinals 2022

FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 13

www.age.co.nz Friday, July 15, 2022

C�U� CARTERTON RUGBY CLUB R�G�Y ‘Disruptive’ season has had it’s ups and downs S�M� F�N�L� It’s been a challenging season for Carterton with lots of ups and down, but club president Steve Hurley believes the best may be yet to come for the Premier side.

It was pipped for the Lane Penn “Town & Country” ÿ nal by East Coast 15-17 and then had a mixed Premier competition round, winning four matches and losing three, which nevertheless put it second on the points table.

“I think it has been a very disruptive season, mainly

“

I think it has been a very disruptive season, mainly due to things like Covid across both grades, and definitely less players.”

- Carterton club president Steve Hurley

due to things like Covid across both grades, and deÿ nitely less players,” he says.

“This has mainly a° ected the Senior Reserve grade.

“They haven’t been able to play well week-onweek.

“ It has been a di˛ cult year to get into rugby.”

“Hopefully they will do that this Saturday.

Carterton has been a very

“I think the team has

16 JULY 2022 Carterton #1 2.35pm

strengths right across the paddock. They have a good bench and if they

can play somewhere near their potential they will be very di˛ cult to beat.”

SEMI-FINALS PREMIERS & SENIOR RESERVES DRAWS

PREMIERS MOOSE KAPENE SEMI-FINALS

East Coast v Eketahuna DEFAULTED

SENIOR RESERVES RYAN CUP SEMI-FINALS

Marist v Martinborough

Pioneer v Greytown

Mstn Red Star v Marist

SATURDAY 16 JULY

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

SATURDAY

Carterton is looking to achieve their full poten�al in their semi-final against Gladstone.

PREMIERS HODDER-STEFFERT SEMI-FINALS

WAIRARAPA BUSH RUGBY UNION CARTERTON VS GLADSTONE

competitive team and as yet not played to their full potential, Steve believes.

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14 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT

Friday, July 15, 2022 Wairarapa Times-Age

C�U� CARTERTON RUGBY CLUB R�G�Y A good, bad, and ugly season for Carterton S�M� F�N�L� Carterton goes into its semi-ÿ nal against Gladstone with a chequered season behind them.

Their ÿ rst match against Pioneer was “pretty ugly” but enough to ÿ nish the ‘town’ section of the Lane Penn Trophy unbeaten.

“Certainly, it’s been up and down for us – the same as for everybody with Covid etc. We’ve all been through it.”

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

This was followed by a win over perennial foes Greytown, their second of the season in what Neil described as a “real physical contest”.

SATURDAY

Sadly for Carterton, they were then pipped in the Lane Penn Trophy ÿ nal

by East Coast 15 to 17 in a tough forward battle played in swirling gale force winds at Carterton.

CARTERTON VS GLADSTONE

16 JULY 2022 Carterton #1 2.35pm

Carterton coach Neil Rodger said afterwards that while East Coast deserved the victory

because they adapted better, and his team went away from their traditional strengths, and should have tried to get the ball out wide despite the conditions.

they were beaten by Gladstone who by then were signalling that they were back as semi-ÿ nal contenders, shutting down Carterton’s powerful ball runners.

But then it was back to being on the right side of the score card after that Rodger believing the win over Martinborough was the team’s best e° ort of the season so far.

Carterton regained their conÿ dence with a seven try victory over Pioneer, dominating the set pieces.

The following weekend

It was a big step up, Neil said, “but far from perfect and could have been a

whole lot more.”

Its ÿ nal round match against Marist last weekend saw both teams adhering to an attacking approach which saw Marist triumph 27-22.

While on the backfoot for much of the match, Carterton remained positive throughout but su° ered from too many handling errors and lost ball in the contact areas.

HEARTY MEALS

Carterton Premier Round Result Position on table: second Points: 24 Wins: 4 Draws: 0 Losses: 3 For: 208 Against: 143

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It’s been a tight season with even matches and not much between any of the teams, Neil says.

This has included the matches between Carterton and Gladstone, the one three weeks ago seeing Gladstone come out winners 36 to 24.

“We’ve tried to be consistent and play the same team each weekend, but we haven’t been able to do that due to Covid and a few injuries. But this is not unusual. It has a° ected all the teams.”

Neil says he will be looking for consistency for the whole game this Saturday.

“We’ve played well for 60 minutes, as have the other teams. We want to play well for 80 minutes, and be better than the other team for those extra 20 minutes.”

Neil believes the Carterton team has strengths right through all its positions.

“We have got a very good backline, but also an extremely good forward pack which has been underrated.”

The home team also has a few good kickers, whom Neil hopes the rest of the team will provide opportunities for.

Gladstone, he says, “is a welldrilled side - strong both on attack and defense. They have a good pack, especially their loose forwards, and good backs.”

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Consistency for 80 minutes the goal Carterton coach Neil Rodger describes his teams season so far as “very topsy turvy. We played very well one week, and then not the next.

They then went on to beat Eketahuna with coach Neil Rodger praising his team’s defensive e° ort in coming from behind to beat a determined opposition at Carterton.

FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 15

www.age.co.nz Friday, July 15, 2022

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Moose Kapene Semi-Final

CARTERTON VS GLADSTONE

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Carterton #1 2.35pm

16 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT

Friday, July 15, 2022 Wairarapa Times-Age

C�U� GLADSTONE RUGBY CLUB R�G�Y Who’s ready to put their body on the line?

S�M� F�N�L� After a slow start to the season, Gladstone has become a dangerous team to play against, as it heads into its semi-ÿ nal against Carterton.

“We lost a couple of games early in the season,” says Gladstone club president Andrew McKay, “but built up and got some good results later on.

“We beat East Coast and Carterton, two of the top teams at the time.

That’s when we started to believe in ourselves and knew we had a shot at the competition.

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

CARTERTON VS GLADSTONE

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Carterton #1 2.35pm

“That changed everything. Once you know you can beat anyone, it builds up conÿ dence. It’s a big motivator, knowing that

“

Gladstone with the Nunn Shield, a�er their successful defence in bea�ng Carterton 36-24 last month

you have the potential to win the competition.”

The key to Gladstone’s success has been its defense, Andrew believes.

“The defense this year

That changed everything. Once you know you can beat anyone, it builds up confidence” - Gladstone club president Andrew McKay

has been the outstanding thing. They have worked hard on that and frustrated a lot of teams by stopping them scoring.

Saturday will be a tough game, in Andrew’s opinion.

“I think Carterton will know what to expect this time around. Both are in Carterton district, so certainly there is a rivalry between the two clubs,

and it will be a big match, being a local derby.

Gladstone has the defense to win the semi ÿ nal, but it will come down to who most wants it on the day, given these sorts of games.

“How much players and coaches are more motivated to win it than the opposition - putting their bodies on the line and focusing on the job.”

Gladstone Premier Round Result Position on table: 3 Points: 23 Wins: 5 Draws: 0 Losses: 2 For: 185 Against: 161

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Gladstone co coach Stan Wright was surprised at the ease of his team’s victory over Martinborough in their ÿ rst match of the season, winning 43 to 7, with a good all-round team e° ort with an emphasis on defence.

But this turned out to be the start of an up-and-down patch, with Gladstone then going down to East Coast, 17 – 38, back up against Eketahuna 31 to 13, and then losing once again, this time to Marist 21-41.

After the Eke match Wright admitted “We’ve still got a lot to work on. The main thing is we see the boys building and it’s best to say they see what we’re trying to do is working and they’re starting to believe in it.”

Martinborough turned the tables on Gladstone on June 3rd with a 23 to 15

win, Martinborough coming from behind.

Gladstone co-coach Charlie Bargh was disappointed with the outcome after a good start, with his team dominating the ÿ rst 20 minutes.

“We let them back in.

We weren’t e° ective at the ruck, and they came back, and we didn’t respond, and we went away from our game plan.”

Nevermind, Gladstone managed to come back with wins over Pioneer and East Coast.

the underdogs for a few years, but we’ve gone back to a bit of old school Gladdy, just getting the forwards working hard and giving the back s nice clean ball to play with.”

Knell said the change of fortune had come about because of hard work, dedication, not giving up, trusting the process, and being patient.

Gladstone strengthened their grip on a top four semi-ÿ nal the following week with a bonus point

win over Greytown 29 to 15.

discipline letting the team down.

Co-coach Charlie Bargh said it was far from a convincing performance, but on the positive side, Gladstone’s defence had stood up against a lot of Greytown pressure.

Bargh, relieved to get the win, didn’t mince his words.

Gladstone snatched a get-out-of-jail-free card when they managed to just squeeze past Eketahuna 21-19, scoring two converted tries with a little more than 10 minutes left on the clock, poor

“We were lucky. We never found out rhythm and our discipline was very poor, to put it politely.

Our skills got us through in the end, but our discipline will have be a hell of a lot better against Carterton. It’s a mental thing and we have to work harder at it.’’

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18 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT

Friday, July 15, 2022 Wairarapa Times-Age

C�U� GLADSTONE RUGBY CLUB R�G�Y Getting the simple things right S�M� F�N�L� At the beginning of the 2022 season in an interview, Gladstone premiers head co- coach Stan Wright had this to say:

“The purpose of coaching is for players to ÿ nish the season better players than they were when it started - that’s my philosophy. Hopefully the rest will take care of itself.”

Asked if the team has indeed gotten to this end of the season as better players, he replies “200 percent better!”

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

CARTERTON VS GLADSTONE

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Carterton #1 2.35pm

This has been Stan’s ÿ rst season as head coach of the team, ably assisted by co-coach Charlie Bargh who tempted him to the club last year.

Stan played 318 ÿ rst class games over 15 years as a prop, including for Auckland, Northland, Auckland Blues, Leinster in Ireland, French side Stade Français, and the Cook Islands, where he grew up.

It was in France where

Stan ÿ rst started coaching and he was forwards coach for the amateur Irish Rugby team Suttonians. In 2016, Stan coached the Under 20s Cook Islands team.

Stan had been hoping not to have to play as well as coach this year but has ended up playing in every match as prop.

to turn up.

“However things have gotten better as the season went along and for Wednesday night’s practice we got a full turn-out.”

There’s now a lot of

enthusiasm among the team, Stan says.

“It took a while for the boys to start to believe in what we were giving them.

“It was all new to them, and you’ve got to trust

the system. When they saw it works, you get the buy in.”

The basic strategy for the season, Stan says, was to “look at what worked, what our strengths are, and plan our games

“I would have preferred to come o˝ the bench, but luckily I have Charlie who coaches the team during the games.

season as it has played out, short as it has been.

“I’m very busy so it has been good for me.”

around our assets.

“There’s no point having a game plan that you can’t play. We had a good look at what we have got and structured our game around that.”

He’s also enjoyed still playing some rugby.

“Rugby is a simple game, and the best way is to do the simple things well and get the basics things right.

“Our philosophy is to do the little things well and the bigger picture will take care of itself.”

Stan has enjoyed the

Successful season beats the covid odds

While Stan already had some coaching experience, he says this season has seen lessons learned.

It hasn’t been an easy season, all of the Wairarapa’s rugby clubs would agree.

“You need a lot of patience given the climate these days, especially with everyone getting sick. I could have a plan for a game but don’t know who is going

But Wairarapa Bush Rugby Union Chief Executive Tony Hargood believes the clubs have risen to the challenge.

“We predicted that Covid would have an in° uence on the competition in 2022 which has been very much the case.

“We built in some reserve weekends which came in handy and had to defer some games, but I really

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“I would play forever if I could. I like the physicality of it.” Stan says the game plan for this Saturday is to “just do the basics well.

Stan says Carterton “are a good team on paper. They are a good side and on their day can beat anyone.

But rugby semi-ÿ nals and ÿ nals are about which team turns up on the day.

“The last game we played were below par. Not to say there were no positives.

We got a lot of positives out of it but we need to play consistently.”

“You see a game di˝ erently on the sideline than when playing and that’s were Charlie comes in.”

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improved remarkably as teams were able to get into their rhythm, and the quality one expects of the semi-ÿ nal and ÿ nal will be up there with previous seasons to produce outstanding games and results.”

Tony also adds: “People need to appreciate that this is our third season dealing with the implications of Covid.

Hopefully in 2023 we will have an uninterrupted season and the consistency we would like.”

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

CARTERTON VS GLADSTONE

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Carterton #1 2.35pm

20 FEATURE

SUPPLEMENT

Friday, July 15, 2022 Wairarapa Times-Age

C�U� MARIST RUGBY CLUB R�G�Y Marist shows it can win the hard games as well S�M� as the easy ones F�N�L� Marist has only experienced two losses so far this season, the ÿ rst in its ÿ rst game which went Carterton’s way 29 to 20.

But then things settled down as Marist got on its winning way, beating Pioneer with set place dominance in their next match.

Captain Peter Beech said the set piece had been the focus at training in the build-up during the week, and it paid o° .

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

MARIST VS MARTINBOROUGH

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Marist #1 2.35pm

Next up was Greytown which Marist comprehensively took down 37 to 8 despite missing several ÿ rst choice players.

Five tries in 11 minutes either side of halftime

“

swung the game Marist’s way in an otherwise tight tussle with Gladstone, followed by a scrappy win against Pioneer, after which Beech said “we’re learning every week.”

But Marist jumped to the top of the Wairarapa-Bush premier championship standings seven days later with a comprehensive victory over Greytown.

Beech was happy with the way his team bounced back after the previous weekend’s shock loss to Martinborough.

We want to be winning and we want to be having fun doing it” - Marist club Captain Peter Beech

Marist back to its best Consistency has been the name of the game for Marist this season, which was only beaten once in the Tui Cup round, by this Saturday’s opponent Martinborough.

The team has beneÿ ted from not too many injuries or illnesses including Covid, captain Peter Beech says.

Not enough lessons had been learned, however, to beat Martinborough who took the next game 22 to 15.

Last year was a big let down for the club after the Marist premier side had won the competition in 2020, and Peter says it wanted to get back up from that.

“We had to come and put a performance on, so we did what we had to do.”

Next, Marist had a bonus point victory wrapped up at halftime against Eketahuna after a ÿ rst-half blitz of 31 unanswered points.

“I’m really happy with that. The team is coming together really nicely,” Beech said.

“We won it in the ÿ rst half, and it’s been a long time since we won in Eketahuna.”

It was a tight win against East Coast 23 to 20. In the end Beech was just happy to take the win.

“We want to be winning and we want to be having fun doing it but there it was just good to grind out a victory, and you can’t expect to win every

FEATURE

www.age.co.nz Friday, July 15, 2022

“Last year we had an up and down season, coming second to last.

People would say they were going to turn up and didn’t turn up.

“We had a big chat about it and decided that getting people on board early was important.

“We were proactive and got our squad started early, keeping people engaged with preseason met-ups, and not necessarily to do with rugby, such things as a barbecue.

“We were looking for

commitment and to get people keen. This has paid dividends, with a big squad for this season.”

While the loss to Martinborough was unfortunate, it did help the team refocus, Peter says.

“No loss is a good one, but the experience made us look at what we needed to improve on.

“It got our feet back on the ground and see what needed to be done next.”

Being top of the table has given Marist home advantage, which Peter

game by 20 or 30 points.

says is always nice.

“It feels good to be running out on to the ÿ eld you train on and you know everything about the ÿ eld.

“But then a semi-ÿ nal is always a di° erent game – lose and you are out.

“Every match has been tight in this competition with every team in the match for at least 60 minutes. We want to lift our game for that extra 20 minutes.”

Ever a person to give credit to the opposition, Peter rates Martinborough highly.

“They are a hard hitting team who have won ÿ ve of their seven games.

“We’re going on the right trajectory, winning is a habit and we just wanted to get the win.”

“When they beat us last time, they put a lot

Marist rolled into the 2022 top four Premier grade playo° s in tryscoring form after overcoming a somewhat shaky start in their topof-the-table clash against Carterton on July 9th with a 27 to 22 win.

“

Marist Premier Round Result Position on table: 1

SUPPLEMENT

C�U� R�G�Y S�M� F�N�L�

Points: 30 Wins: 6 Draws: 0 Losses: 1 For: 224 Against: 137 of pressure on us with rushed defense and big hits.

“They have a hard defense and everyone in their team plays for each other and has belief of each other.”

It feels good to be running out on to the field you train on and you know everything about the field.”

- Marist club Captain Peter Beech

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

MARIST VS MARTINBOROUGH

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Marist #1 2.35pm

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22 FEATURE SUPPLEMENT

Friday, July 15, 2022 Wairarapa Times-Age

C�U� MARTINBOROUGH RUGBY CLUB R�G�Y Tough mentality gets Martinborough through S�M� F�N�L� Martinborough has proven itself to be a team no opposition can take lightly throughout 2022, and deserve their place in the semis.

That said, they didn’t get o˜ to great start when beaten by Gladstone 7-43.

But they bounced back the following week, pipping Eketahuna 16 to 13.

“Our team defense won us the game really,” said coach James Bruce afterwards.

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

MARIST VS MARTINBOROUGH

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Marist #1 2.35pm

They got the better of East Coast next, 25-15 in a scrappy a˜ air at home, only to lose to Pioneer the following week 12-15.

A dropped goal with 19 minutes to play sealed Martinborough’s come from behind victory over Gladstone 23 to 15.

“It’s really good when you see players doing that because they’re exploring all the options,” said a pleased Bruce.

Although Bruce described

the match as “ugly rugby” he was rapt with his player’s determination in a tense ÿ nish.

Martinborough also came out on top against Marist with a 22 to 15 win next, Bruce full of praise for his team’s defense in holding on for a gutsy win.

“We’re starting to believe that we’re not as bad as we thought we were,” said Bruce, who had worked hard to instill a good team spirit.

“We’ve spent the last month dagging every Tuesday night together and doing things like that as well as training twice a week and all the boys have bought into it.”

But Carterton put them back in their place with a 17-34 win, only for Martinborough to come back with a win against Greytown by 19 points to 7.

Losing the previous week to Carterton was the catalyst for Martinborough’s hardfought victory. “We learnt

this week that prep is everything,” Bruce said afterwards.

“I ÿ red a few shots during the week that a few boys needed to prove a point because we’d dropped o˜ a bit, and they did well.”

The talking to must have worked as Martinborough then chalk up its highest point scoring e˜ ort of the season with a 64 to 10 win over Eketahuna.

Bruce was satisÿ ed with the team’s e˜ ort.

“We didn’t get too loose and out of hand like it could have, and we stayed pretty structured.

“The young boys went really well, because it was a game where they had conÿ dence because they weren’t under so much pressure, and they shone a little bit.”

Facing a do-or-die clash against East Coast in the ÿ nal round match, Martinborough managed to get past them with a 21 to 17 win, securing the fourth and ÿ nal spot in the Wairarapa club rugby

Team spirit secret of Martinborough success It’s been a horrendously wet Tuesday for farmer James Bruce, who is about to go out in the weather again to do some dagging.

Dagging, it seems, has played an important part in Martinborough making it through to the semiÿ nals.

“We’ve been doing a ton of fundraising. I’ll be dagging with 20 guys tonight. There’s something for everyone

Premier grade playo˜ s with a gutsy win.

Martinborough were forced to defend for the vast majority of the second half as East Coast threw everything at them, including the kitchen sink.

Bruce said a tough mentality, built in the last few weeks of mustwin games, saw them through.

FEATURE SUPPLEMENT 23

www.age.co.nz Friday, July 15, 2022

coaching a team that hardly won a game.

to do, even if they haven’t had any experience of dagging before. The new boys pick it up. There’s a job for everyone.”

So what is the di˜ erence this year, given that it’s much the same team?

Dagging is as much about building team spirit as raising money for the club.

“I think Covid a˜ ected us and how we got around that as a team. We were having to come to grip with the new way of things.

James has been coach of the premier side for the last 13 years, seeing it win the competition in 2019 and making the semiÿ nals in 2020.

“This year it has worked out better, a bit due to me working things out and making some adjustments.”

But last year he was

Martinborough Premier Round Result Position on table: 4

This season its as much about what happens o˜ the ÿ eld as on it, says James.

“Because last year we were just trying to get through, there was no team building. We are doing a bit of that this year.

“But it’s not all dagging and training hard stu˜ .

I’m a very ÿ rm believer that rugby is a small part of our friendships.

“Rugby is what brings us all together, but outside of that everyone sticks together as well.

Martinborough is quite di˜ erent to other places. It is a small town and everyone knows everyone.”

The team has built up well over the season,

Points: 22

“

Wins: 5

James says.

“We’ve had a number of injuries and sicknesses but everyone is replaceable which is kind of cool. If a key guy is away, there’s a guy who can replace them.

“In one instance a hooker had to play second-ÿ ve.

He had to make it work.

There is a belief in each other and we are there for each other.”

Martinborough is notable for having the best defense record in the competition this season.

“Defense is the hard thing to get right. It comes from the time we spend outside rugby together, because we want to do it for each other – I’m not going to let you down.”

There is a belief in each other and we are there for each other.”

Draws: 0 Losses: 2 For: 176

C�U� R�G�Y S�M� F�N�L�

- James Bruce

Moose Kapene Semi-Final

MARIST VS MARTINBOROUGH

SATURDAY

16 JULY 2022 Marist #1 2.35pm

Against: 113

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