Latest news with #MatakanuiCombined
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Arrowtown's timely return to form
Wakatipu Premiers hooker Thomas Hulsman, pictured in action against Matakanui Combined recently, is among a group of young players the team's successfully blooded this season. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Following a convincing away win over Cromwell last weekend, the Arrowtown rugby side's fizzing for this Saturday's home-ground 'Battle of the Basin' game against Wakatipu. Arrowtown beat Cromwell 29-7 to clinch just their second win of the year after their season-opening thrashing of Matakanui Combined in March. It also came after the teams had drawn their first-round fixture. "The boys showed a bit of grit on Saturday," says captain Ryan Egerton, who didn't play due to a "buggered" knee. "She was one of the better 23-man performances I've seen from the Arrowtown Bulls. "Everyone that came on from the bench played a good role and, yeah, we scored some pretty good meat pies, to be fair." Coming after a deflating loss to Alexandra, "it's definitely given the boys a bit of confidence," Egerton adds. "We definitely needed it for morale, because, yeah, the boys were hurting after loss after loss." He was also expecting the prospect of a Battle of the Basin game to provide "a bit of fizz" at training this week. "I'm sure we'll be up for it, and hopefully we can get a heap of people down at the Jack Reid and put on a good show." Wakatipu Premiers coach Jordan Manihera, whose team touched up Arrowtown 48-19 in the first round, says he's pleased to hear of Arrowtown's good result "through the gorge", and certainly won't be taking them for granted despite their 7-2 win-loss record this season. "It's a great rivalry to have, and how the comp's been this year, anything can happen if one team turns up and plays better than their opposite number on the day. "So we're treating this game, as we do every week, with some good preparation. "We're back to a full contingent, so back to getting the old migraine with selections, but, you know, it's a good problem to have, so we're really looking forward to ripping into it." Manihera's also hoping for good ground conditions after playing on a heavy track at the Queenstown Rec Ground these past two Saturdays — Waka last weekend beat Maniototo 29-13, but only after upping their intensity over the final 20 minutes. They're deliberately bringing some experienced players like Don Lolo and Paulie Tuala off the bench, the coach says. "We've kind of found we were staying in the fight for a good 50 to 60 minutes every game, but then we're just sort of losing a bit of composure and experience towards the end." With Wakatipu third on the table, one point behind Alexandra, and with just two rounds to go after this weekend, expect them to be chasing a bonus point win this Saturday to try to nail down a home semifinal.
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Smith set to blow final whistle on reffing career
Gary Smith will trade in his yellow and red cards for a gold card. It is a cracking line from the long-serving referee. The Cromwell resident does not hit retirement age until next year, so he has to wait until April for said gold card. But he is planning on retiring from refereeing a lot sooner. This weekend, actually. He will officiate in the White Horse Cup match between Upper Clutha and Matakanui Combined, ending a 30-year career. It is his second retirement. The first one did not stick. He kept going for another seven years. And this retirement is more of a graduated retreat in some ways. He plans to stay involved with the sport and coach some up-and-coming referees. "I always think, why did I take up, and it's because I love it," he said. "And if you haven't got referees, you haven't got a rugby game, and I'm passionate about it. "But it's got to the stage where I'm turning 65, and so I gave away the yellow and red cards for a gold card." Smith was motivated to take up refereeing after a chat with former referee Colin Hawke, who played an important role in two infamous moments in Otago sport. Hawke penalised Otago hooker David Latta for getting offside late in the 1994 Ranfurly Shield against Canterbury, and Andrew Mehrtens stepped up and kicked the winner. Hawke awarded Auckland a penalty try during the NPC final against Otago the following year. Smith was not a fan of either decision and met up with Hawke shortly after. They had a good chat about refereeing and he was ultimately won over. "I went along to the South Canterbury referees meeting and met Colin. He said, and he's made it public since, the penalty try would probably be a different decision now. "I respected that and I said, 'you coach me for a month and I'll give it a crack'. "Then I got to appreciate what's actually involved. I think if every supporter or rugby player had a couple of games under their belt as a referee, I think there'd be a lot less sideline abuse." There are a lot of know-alls on the sideline whose knowledge about the laws of rugby can be quite limited. But Smith said he did not always notice the abuse. He also understood most of the time it was just passion bubbling to the surface. "You've got to realise there's a difference between targeted abuse and passionate abuse, and most of it's passionate. "You hear it, but you don't. I've never had too many issues. "I just ignore it and I don't take it personally. Once you get in the clubroom, everything's left on the field most of the time. "Probably the hardest age group is that junior age-group, where the parents think their kids are all that, you know?" Smith said he had officiated in more than 500 games, and more than 200 of those had been at the top club level. He stayed involved so long because "at the end of the day, I'd love to be still playing if I had my choice". "It's the best seat in the house, and the best option to be out in the middle". Smith was selected in a South Island Zone squad in 2003 and had the opportunity to officiate at a higher level. He refereed "several women's NPC games". "Basically, that squad was to try and get us into that Heartland squad, so I never made that next step up, unfortunately." Despite missing out, he continued to referee, and one of the highlights was the game between Dunstan High School and Otago Boys' in 2010. Dunstan recorded a historic 9-8 win and he watched from the middle. Smith will miss the people the most but he is also ready for a change. "It's going to be a happy, sad day. But I've sacrificed a lot of hunting and fishing and a bit of family life. "That's a good commitment we make, you know. So teams can play rugby on a Saturday."
Otago Daily Times
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Peina bags all of team's points in hard-earned win
Rube Peina. PHOTO: ODT FILES It was an afternoon of individual achievement as the three leading teams in the Central Otago premier club competition all progressed safely on Saturday. A week after starring for Central Region in the Topp Cup, midfielder Rube Peina scored all 23 points for Wakatipu in their hard-earned 23-7 win over bottom team Matakanui Combined in frigid conditions in Queenstown. However, it was a good news-bad news outcome for Wakatipu because by scoring only two tries they missed the bonus point, which now leaves them six points adrift of second-placed Alexandra. Alexandra had no difficulty registering a bonus point, scoring six tries in a comfortable 41-14 victory over a struggling Arrowtown at Molyneux Park. Three of those tries went to flanker Sam Chapman, a former Fiji under-21 representative, giving him 10 for the season, the most by any individual. Meanwhile, Frenchman Ulysse Martineau bagged another couple of tries for front-runners Upper Clutha, giving him eight for the season, helping his team come from 10-0 down approaching halftime to win 29-13 at Anderson Park. Upper Clutha are fortunate to have recruited Martineau after losing fellow winger Welshman Thomas Jarman, who scored a remarkable 16 tries last season. Until Martineau sprang into action, Upper Clutha could not have performed less like a champion team. From missing a penalty attempt straight in front of the posts to blowing several potential try-scoring opportunities, the men from Wanaka thoroughly deserved to be on zero after 35 minutes. Then, amazingly, in the space of eight minutes, leading up to and immediately after halftime, Upper Clutha scored three tries and added a penalty goal and suddenly Cromwell found themselves 22-10 down, and that really was that. Cromwell desperately needed to win this contest if they were to contend for the top four, but there is now a significant gap between the top four teams and the bottom three. Matakanui Combined still sit at the bottom of the table but, fresh from a handsome victory over Arrowtown, they proved a worthy opponent for Wakatipu, challenging them at scrum time. Wakatipu had the slicker backs but handling lapses cost them more tries. — Bob Howitt
Otago Daily Times
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Topp win spices up predictions
Central Otago lock Dean Sinnamon beats South Otago defender Sam Stratford to score a try during the Topp Cup game in Alexandra on Saturday. PHOTO: RICHARD JONES With the top three teams playing the bottom three, the outcome of tomorrow's encounters in the Central Otago premier club competition appear easy to forecast. Front-runners Upper Clutha will tackle Cromwell at Anderson Park, having beaten them 59-28 in the first round; Wakatipu will tangle with Matakanui Combined at Queenstown, after winning their first clash 45-21; and Alexandra will host Arrowtown at Molyneux Park, having beaten them 32-21 two months ago. While all that makes for predictable forecasting, spice has been added to the competition following the thrilling Topp Cup victory by Central Region at Alexandra last weekend. Intriguingly, the Central starting 15 included only two players from Upper Clutha, who won the Central Otago title in 2024 and who have lost only five of their last 45 contests. The Upper Clutha representatives in the starting 15 were No 8 Jake Burtenshaw, who contributed mightily to Central's 41-38 victory, and hooker Scott Cunningham. Their colleagues were five players from Wakatipu, four from Alexandra, two from Matakanui Combined and one each from Maniototo and Cromwell. Even on the reserves bench Upper Clutha were outnumbered, having just one representative there, centre Oliver Stirling, alongside three players from Cromwell, two from Wakatipu and one each from Arrowtown and Alexandra. Adding additional punch to tomorrow's game at the Queenstown Recreation Ground is the presence of Dean Sinnamon, who romped off with the Topp Cup man of the match award after scoring three tries and dominating in the lineout. He is, by the way, Central's leading try-scorer this season, with seven touchdowns from as many matches, an amazing statistic given his team is bottom of the competition. Matakanui Combined are coming off a handsome victory, 42-24 against Arrowtown, their first win since 2023. It is unlikely they will seriously trouble high-flying Wakatipu, given the magical touches and extreme pace demonstrated by players such as Rube Peina, Jamie Natapu and Conor Hamlin in the Topp Cup, but expect Matakanui Combined to be competitive in the scrums and lineouts .. . and see if Wakatipu can stop Sinnamon scoring a try (as they did in the first round).
