Wellington Samoa Overcome Hawke’s Bay Samoa 40-24

By Geoffrey Fepuleai

 

 

 

Wellington Samoa rallied back in the second half to put away a strong Hawke’s Bay Samoa outfit 40-24 in what was a physical encounter.

In commemoration of Wellington Samoa Rugby Union’s first Old Timers’ Day, Hawke’s Bay Samoa made the trip from the east coast looking to spoil the party. Wellington Samoa, coming off their first win of the season last week were looking to string together consecutive victories in recent weeks .

The visitors from Hawke’s Bay were the first to draw blood with halfback Tom Iosefo diving over from close range. With the try converted, Wellington Samoa hit back with a try of their own with Hooker James Tuiatua linking up with Flanker Tuitasi Masoe from a beautiful set piece move from the lineout, to see Tuiatua to run and score in the corner. With the try unconverted Hawke’s Bay held the lead after 10 minutes of play.

Hawkes Bay were left to rue several chances to score with  many opportunities being let down by the final pass. However, resulted in a moment of brilliance as a scrum 5 meters out from Wellington Samoa’s try line turned into one of the tries of the afternoon.

Pitted deep by their own try line Wellington Samoa First Five Fa’atonu Fili, looking to clear, spun the ball wide to centre Ope Peleseuma who connected with Hutt Old Boys Marist team mate winger Feleti Soloa. With Soloa showing incredible pace to beat 3 defenders to run 80 meters to offload to supporting fullback Ryan Setefano to race away to score under the posts. A fantastic display of counter attacking rugby.

With the try converted, Wellington took a 12-7 lead over their opponents. However that lead was short lived. After long periods of possession Hawke’s Bay responded 15 minutes later with two tries of their own to forward Vailoa Kereti and winger Jason Kereti. Scrums were a major weapon for Hawkes Bay which they used to their advantage, scoring before the stroke of halftime to take a 19-12 lead into half-time.

A stern talking from Wellington Samoa coaches Rodney So’oialo and Kas Lealamanua, saw a reinvigorated Wellington outfit in the second half with winger Josh Robertson-Weepu crossing over to score in the corner after great hands from the backs to find Robertson-Weepu, to beat 2 defenders on his way to score his first of the day. With Fili landing a tough conversion from the sidelines the scores were locked 19 a piece.

Replacement prop Daniel Filemoni and replacement hooker Elijah Hunt shored up the scrum for Wellington in the second half. As a mixup from a Hawke’s Bay scrum from their 5 meter line, saw replacement halfback Ken Kapeli diving over a loose ball to break the deadlock 26-19.

Unforced errors began to pileup for Hawke’s bay with many chances going to waste in the final third, undoing a lot of their hard work in attack. Wellington Samoa however, shifted into second gear, as a cross kick from Fili from halfway found Soloa, with the winger rewarded with a try of his own, shrugging off his defender to score a sensational try under the posts increasing their lead 33-19.

Locks Milo Va’a and Fala Milo controlled the lineouts well for Wellington Samoa, whilst racking up the tackle counts in what was a strong display by the locking duo who often stole crucial lineout ball from Hawke’s bay.

Lung busting runs from Wellington loose forwards Lucky Tuiatua, Matt Peni and Tuatasi Masoe caused havoc for the Hawke’s Bay who were forced to defend for much of the second half. With the latter finishing off a great try. A break from prop Rei Manaia was finished nicely by Masoe after a cut out pass from Fili, saw the the flanker running to dot down under the posts. The try proving to be the final nail in the coffin for Hawke’s Bay, as Wellington Samoa sat at a comfortable 40-19 lead with 10 minutes to go.

Not content to going down without a fight Hawke’s Bay Samoa was rewarded with a try of their own in the 79th minute after quick tap resulting in captain Pouvi Fatialofa to stretch and score a consolation try, with the final score 40-24.