Good conditions greeted the sides for the fixture. Waimea Combined needed to make a strong showing if they were to recover from consecutive losses to Nelson Boys and Marlborough Boys. With Christchurch Boys ranked 4th on the High School top 200 website and Waimea in 55th place it looked to be an improbable task for the locals. The difference between the two sides was obvious at the run on and haka. Christchurch Boys had nineteen caps on the halfway line while Waimea had four. Early exchanges were even and it was the home side that scored first with Ryan Churchill being put into space outside the 22metre lined and dotting down between the sticks. The conversion drifted onto the upright and Waimea were ahead by 5 – 0.
Some good work by Christchurch Boys saw them awarded a penalty which led to a line out on the 5 metre mark. Sam Taylor, who had already impressed with his work in the line out, secured the ball and the ensuing drive saw flanker Thomas Schmack score wide out. Cullen Moody was astray with the conversion and the scores were tied at 5 – 5. Christchurch kept up the pressure and were dominating at scrum and were also quick to the breakdown putting real pressure on the Waimea defence. The next try was scored by fullback Max Hughes and the extras were added by Cullen Moody for Christchurch Boys to lead by 12 – 5. The next try came to Waimea as the defence laid off Duncan Drysdale and he ran closed to 50 metres to score between the posts. It was obvious that the Christchurch Boys defence were totally disorganised as Drysdale scythed through them with no-one committing to the tackle. With someone of his pace the mistake was fatal. Jack Hahn converted the try and the halftime whistle saw a somewhat underwhelming performance from the Powerhouse team culminate in the scores being locked at 12 – 12.
I saw the coaching staff of Christchurch Boys head grimly into the huddle and believed there would be some harsh, but true criticisms delivered along with reminders of getting back to their core roles and sticking to the game plan.
It was a good 35 minutes for Waimea but the question was whether they would be able to sustain it. Cam Rodrigue was lively around the park but there were ominous signs at scrum time. Berkett at open side prop was strong for a good part of the first spell, but at 80kg he was feeling the pressure late in the half. Clayden Paranihi, the Christchurch Boys rake, was a real presence in the first spell and halfback Louie Chapman, playing his 50th game was also sound. He has been in the side since Year 10 – a measure of the talent he showed at a young age.
Christchurch Boys looked a different side in the second spell as they swept onto the attack right form the kick-off. Even so they butchered two early tries through their inability to catch what looked like reasonable passes. It was Tahu Kaa Goodwillie who opened the scoring for the visitors in the second spell when he made up for his earlier fumble and evaded the tackle to score out wide. Cullen Moody landed the conversion and the score was 19 – 12 in favour of Christchurch Boys. They continued to apply pressure and were rewarded with a tighthead that resulted in lock Sam Taylor, one of the standouts in the first half, scoring the fourth try. It was converted by Moody and the score was 26 – 12. We didn’t have long to wait before Christchurch scored again with 2nd five Ollie Lewis stretching out in the tackle to put the ball on the line adjacent to the posts. The Moody conversion stretched the lead out to 33 – 12. Right from the restart Christchurch struck again with Kaa Goodwillie scoring his second. Moody landed his fifth conversion and the lead was 40 – 12. Henry Crew could arguably have scored himself shortly afterwards but made the pass for Ben Lopes to dot down. The kick was successful and Christchurch had nan unassailable lead at 47 -12. Waimea scored out wide to remind the visitors that they were still in the game at 47 – 17, but replacement Brigham Riwai-Couch scored out wide to bring up the half century 52 – 17.
Waimea were penalised for their third tip tackle and coaching staff will have to work on their technique or they will be in dangerous waters with referees cracking down on any tackle that can result in a head injury. Rusi Samuelu scored the final try of the game and Cullen Moody finished off an impressive performance with the boot to land the conversion and take the score out to 64 – 17.
A convincing 2nd spell for the visitors, but with Marlborough coming down to visit next weekend they will have to put in a full seventy minute performance. Injury and illness have decimated both squads and hopefully they will be back to full strength in the next few weeks. It may be too late for Waimea, but it was encouraging to see the difference in scrummaging when Nairn Wilson came on in the second spell. Although he is not huge by modern standards, he has good technique and is very mobile and effective around the paddock. The Waimea Combined side is definitely showing they are in a rebuilding phase while Christchurch Boys have a large number of Year 12 students to provide some continuity for next season.
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