Marist through to semis after thumping Otorohanga in Waikato women’s rugby

Hamilton Marist finished the Waikato women’s club rugby round robin stage in style at the weekend with an emphatic 67-10 win over Otorohanga at Island Reserve.

After a back and forth opening half where both teams were guilty of making errors and lacking discipline, Marist came out in the second half and blew their opposition away.

Momentum swung in Marist’s favour just before the break when their captain Grace Houpapa-Barrett barged over the line and kicked the conversion for her team to go up 14-5.

Houpapa-Barrett was a handful all day for Otorohanga, leading from the front with her hard running and proving very difficult for their defence to put down.

“Oto was strong on the set piece, on the scrum and their defence was solid and we were just making silly mistakes in the first half,” Houpapa-Barrett said.

“In the second half we were able to hit back, purely based on fitness and because we kept the ball in hand – there’s not much they could do without the ball.”

Earlier Marist had opened their scoring account through good phase play from their forwards leading to first five Ana Masters breaking Otorohanga’s defence to dot down.

Otorohanga were quick to respond as Marist let themselves down by turning over possession which was capitalised on by fullback Keitu Burnside who burst through some flimsy defence to score.

The game’s momentum changed early in the second half when Houpapa-Barrett scored her second after a clever quick tap caught Otorohanga back-pedalling and she charged through them again.

The Otorohanga players were looking tired, especially their forwards – heads down and bodies hunched over in their huddle as Houpapa-Barrett’s conversion missed.

Marist took note of the tiring Otorohanga pack and really turned up the gas – scoring soon again after some magical footwork from second five Danielle Paenga saw her cross the try line.

Once Paenga had a taste for scoring, she couldn’t stop and went on to pile the pain on Otorohanga by getting herself a hat-trick.

The tries continued for Marist through the half with Masters grabbing another, Waimoana Saulo getting two, and Karli Faneva and Shania Jo Howe each scoring as well.

However Otorohanga never gave up, they showed heart throughout and continued to encourage each other in what would be their final game for the season.

They were rewarded for their persistence with little time remaining when Marist showed some of their defensive lapses from the first half and couldn’t stop Otorohanga centre Hannah Brough from touching down.

Otorohanga coach Nathan Pye said his team’s season had been a success despite the heavy defeat.

“It’s the first time we’ve had a team for 26 years, for most of our girls it’s the first time they’ve played rugby, so yeah it’s been a real learning curve and the improvement they’ve showed has been awesome,” he said.

Pye was confident looking ahead to next year.

“The mood’s good and we’ve got lots of numbers and they’re all keen to come back and give it another go.”

Meanwhile Marist will begin preparing for their semi-final against Hamilton Old Boys on Saturday.

Houpapa-Barrett said it was crucial to her team’s success that all of the players made it to training.

“Getting good solid trainings prior to games is just good for the morale and [gives] a bit of confidence in knowing that the girls know what the game plan is,” she said.

“Yes they will be a tough team and yes they have improved throughout the season, but so have we.”

When the teams played each other last month, it ended in a 39-39 draw.

Hamilton Marist 67 (Danielle Paenga 3, Waimoana Saulo 2, Ana Masters 2, Grace Houpapa-Barrett 2, Karli Faneva, Shania Jo Howe tries; Houpapa-Barrett 6 con)

Otorohanga 10 (Keitu Burnside, Hannah Brough tries)