FIRST FIFTEEN 2010
The college first fifteen started strongly, winning the Hope Cup - a competition involving 8 Hutt Valley rugby teams - in the first term holidays. The team is captained by loose forward Murphy Taramai (in his third year for the team) and is coached this year by Charlie Beckett with assistance from Alex Alesbrook.The photo above shows Murphy with the Hope Trophy.
In pre-competition grading matches, the team beat Naenae firsts by 40 points, lost in a closely contested game to St Pats Town by 20 points to 10, beat Newlands by over 20 points and then defeated Aotea firsts by 50 points. They were then invited to play in the Wellington premier one division.
RONGOTAI COLLEGE - The first match was against Rongotai College and was lost 19-12. After an early try to Rongotai, Upper Hutt fought back and competed hard to take the lead near the end of the game by 15 to 12. This lead was built on strong defence and speed and attacking flair in the backline. Sheridan Rangihuna directed play well from half back and was successful with 5 out of 5 penalty shots at goal. Unfortunately, a couple of mistakes near the end led to a converted try to Rongotai and a narrow loss. The team could well have won this game as they blew a couple of try scoring opportunities earlier in the game as well. .
WELLINGTON COLLEGE - Against one of the perenially top premier one sides, the team started strongly and went to a 10 nil lead after a penalty from Sheridan Rangihuna and a converted try from Anton Unahi, playing at centre.The try followed a clean line break from Bronson Orr at first five eighth. The backs again looked dangerous when they kept the ball in hand. As the match progressed, however, the Wellington pack began to dominate, especially at scrums, and a number of first up tackles were missed. In the end, Wellington ran away to a 49 to 13 victory.
SCOTS COLLEGE - In a close encounter with heavy conditions underfoot, the team won by 8 to 3 - a try to centre Leroy Hindley and a penalty to Sheridan Rangihuna against a late penalty to Scots. The win was well deserved with the team holding a territorial advantage, and the forwards standing up much more strongly than the previous week. Murphy Taramai had another strong game at number 8 and Jovilisi Murivalu made his presence felt in the front row.
ST BERNARDS - In a match punctuated by a lot of referee's whistle, the team came from behind for a narrow 13-12 win, having been behind 12-3 with 15 minutes to go. After a penalty from Sheridan Rangihuna took the score to 12-6, a kick and chase led to a good tackle on the defending fullbackwho popped a pass to a supporting player. Flanker Josh Hinton read the play well, intercepted the pass and ran 50 metres to score under the posts. After Sheridan converted, Upper Hutt College took out the win.
PORIRUA COLLEGE - This was a mid week game, semi-final for the Hurricanes Co-ed Cup. Upper Hutt prevailed by 17 to 3 in a scrappy encounter in which Porirua played above their premier three status. Murphy Taramai scored two tries from number 8, and Jacob Coulston one from openside flanker. Again, a lot of whistle interrupted the game and there was quite a lot of aimless chip kicking from both sides. The win puts the team in the Co-ed finals, the match to be played against Bishop Viard College.
ST PATS TOWN - In cold and wet conditions, the team was well beaten by a strong St Pats side by 41 to nil. Murphy Taramai stood out for his work around the loose ball and the scrum again performed well. A number of injuries and sickness did not help the team who will need to regroup before their next match.
SILVERSTREAM - The team started strongly with a try to Deacon Fisher, converted by Sheridan Rangihuna. Sheridan then kicked a penalty so that the lead was 10 nil. The Upper Hutt scrum was dominant and the forwards were competing strongly in the physical exchanges. Silverstream fought back to 10 all when one of the Upper Hutt props was sent off for a "grass cutter". From here on, the team struggled with 14 players and finished up losing 45 to 10.
BISHOP VIARD COLLEGE - This was the final of the co-ed cup competition for the top co-educational rugby team in Wellington. The teams observed a period of silence before the game in respect of Johnson Muir, a year 9 student from our college who passed away recently. Played at Upper Hutt College mid week, our team started strongly and dominated the first half. Viard came back with two tries but strong defence and a final try to Murphy Taramai took the team to a final 23 to 10 victory. Earlier tries were scored by midfielders Leroy Hindley and Jay Roa. Sheridan Rangihuna converted one try and kicked two penalties. The whole team rose to the occasion for this game and well deserved the victory.
MANA COLLEGE - This was a close game in which Upper Hutt College started strongly but faded to lose by the narrowest of margins, 11-10. The Upper Hutt points came from a converted try and penalty while Mana scored one try and kicked two penalty goals.
RONGOTAI COLLEGE - In a fast and physical game, Rongotai proved the better side on the day, running out winners by 32 to 17. The player of the day for Upper Hutt College was Murphy Taramai who scored both the team's tries.
SCOTS COLLEGE- In the play off for 5th and 6th, the team was beaten in wet and heavy conditions, after the game was transferred from Scots to the Rongotai grounds. The match was evenly contested until a period in the second half when with 14 players, Upper Hutt let in two soft tries. The forwards played strongly throughout the game with Colin Leilua-Toilolo and Eduan Struwig scoring the team's tries. The final score was 28 to 13.
DANNEVIRKE HIGH SCHOOL -This was the Hurricanes Regional semi-final for co-ed colleges. Upper Hutt had a poor first half, trailing by 21 to 3 at the break. The second half was a different matter. After tries to Gavin Roil and Sheridan Rangihuna (the latter following a strong break and run from Deacon Fisher) the score narrowed to 21 to 17 with 15 minutes to go. Despite a fierce assault on the Dannevirke line, Upper Hutt could not score and a final try to Dannevirke took the score to a 26 to 17 loss. The team missed Murphy Taramai and Michael Aumata, away with the Cook Island national team, and struggled with some local refereeing calls.
Nonetheless, this is the best performance from our rugby first fifteen in some years and we are proud of their achievements.