Waikato has the touch
New Zealand and Australia went head-to-head last weekend at the Trans-Tasman Touch Test Series, with six Waikato players being selected to play. After taking out the competition for the first time in 20 years in 2013, New Zealand hoped to defend their title this year.
Six Waikato touch players represented New Zealand in Australia last weekend in the 2014 Touch Trans-Tasman Test Series.
The tournament ran from April 25-27 in Mudgee, a small town near Sydney.
Three teams contest the annual test series: open men’s, women’s and mixed. New Zealand was unable to defend their titles after last year in Auckland, where they won the competition for the first time in 20 years.
Hollie Gray, who was one of three Waikato players in the women’s team, said all matches played by the Touch Blacks teams were “really close”.
“In the past Australia has really dominated in this tournament, but this year we came out just as strong,” she said.
Waikato players Ruamai Erueti, Jerome Nonoa and Mita Graham represented the New Zealand men’s team. Gray, Aleisha Berryman and Morgan Morrow were selected for the women’s team.
The women’s team lost their first game and won their second, making the third the decider, which New Zealand lost.
“We had quite a young team with seven debutants – two of them 17 years old,” said Gray.
NZ Touch coaching director Peter Walters said many top players were missing from the teams.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted obviously but we took away 22 New Zealand debutants across the three divisions – and it was great getting them some experience.
“There were a lot of players who were unavailable for various reasons; some were saving for the Touch World Cup in 12 months for example.”
Walters said this year Touch NZ received no funding from High Performance Sport NZ, meaning many top players couldn’t financially afford to participate in both the Trans-Tasman test series and the 2015 World Cup in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.
“We never know [about funding], it changes all the time. Softball and basketball got some funding this year and that meant we missed out.”
The three-day tournament started last Friday after the Touch Blacks men’s team performed a haka at Mudgee’s Anzac Day service, in memory of fallen New Zealand servicemen.
“All three teams also performed a haka on the Saturday night. The locals just loved it,” said Walters.
He said the day was special for the team and it was a great way to start the tournament.
Gray agreed.
“Yeah I was pretty proud actually. We paraded the streets of Mudgee alongside the servicemen. It was a really emotional time for me.”
Walters said the tournament was a great learning experience for each team and now the focus is on preparing for the 2015 World Cup.
