Waikato Mooloo beat rivals, keep home quarter finals hopes alive

The Waikato Mooloo’s have defeated Chiefs rivals, the Counties Manukau Steelers at Waikato Stadium 37-15 on Sunday afternoon.

The first half of the game started off slowly, with both teams trying to assert their dominance. Waikato eventually broke the deadlock with two penalty goals to fullback Tepaea Cook-Savage to give the home side a 6-0 lead.

After the kick off, is when the controversy started though.

As Waikato were trying to set a few phases before kicking the ball into touch, Referee Angus Mabey got in the way of one of the passes, which resulted in the Steelers getting the ball in the opposition 22. Counties would eventually make the most of this, with Centre Tevita Ofa dotting over the line to give the visitors the opening try of the game. While first five Riley Hohepa was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt, to give them the lead.

That would eventually come though, when right as the half time hooter blew Counties would get a penalty, with Hohepa nailing the penalty goal to give the visitors the 8-6 lead into the break.

The second half would start, with Waikato continuing their dominance from the first half. Their first try would eventually come from halfback Cortez Ratima from a close range snipe at the line, before winger Daniel Sinkinson dotted over the line to extend the Waikato lead.

As Waikato kept the pressure going, another try would come yet again. This time from a penalty try, when Counties replacement hooker Ioane Moananu would illegally take down the driving maul. Referee Angus Mabey would then add salt to the Counties wounds, with Moananu receiving a yellow card for the indiscretion in the 59th minute.

The numbers mismatch would play dividends for the Mooloo men, with Sinkinson dotting down for his 2nd of the afternoon.

As Counties made a valiant comeback through multiple phases, their hard work would be undone with Waikato’s second five-eight Quinn Tupaea intercepting a long range pass, which resulted in a length of the field try. Cook-Savage would again knock over the kick from right out in front.

Counties would eventually get another try, that some would say was the “try of the game”. Fullback Etene Nanai-Seturo would weave through multiple defenders with skill and speed for a long range solo effort, to give Counties a much better looking score line. Hohepa would nail the conversion over, which would finish the scoring from both teams before the full time whistle would blow. Giving Waikato a much deserved 37-15 win.

With this win, Waikato will move to a 2-3 record while keeping their home quarter finals final hopes alive and rebounding from 3 losses on the trot, on the other hand Counties will slip to a 1-3 record which will move them to 10th on the table.

Score Summary

Waikato Mooloo: 37

Tries: Cortez Ratima, Daniel Sinkinson x2, Quinn Tupaea and a Penalty try (this is an automatic conversion)

Conversions: Tepaea Cook-Savage x2

Penalty Goals: Tepaea Cook-Savage x2

Counties Manukau Steelers : 15

Tries: Tevita Ofa, Etene Nanai-Seturo

Conversions: Riley Hohepa x1

Penalty Goals: Riley Hohepa x1