NOTICES

CONGRATULATIONS:

Whitney Hansen on playing her 100th game for the Viperettes. Your on and off field leadership is appreciated by all.

Nic Brooker on playing his 50th game for Div 1.

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Clearwater Construction for their continued support of our club over the last few years.

Endeavour for sponsorship of Div 1

Canterbury Teamwear for their continued support of our club and kitting us out in some pretty flash gear.

Thanks to John Wright for his tireless efforts applying for funding grants.

Thanks also to Kobus Joubert who was in the clubrooms on Saturday night but didn’t want to be publicly acknowledged. Kobus has been the chap responsible for shouting for the teams winning at home. From all of us, thanks mate!

 

Parking:

Thanks to those who have been making sure not to park on the gravel driveway, your help in this matter is greatly appreciated. Please spread the word to anyone who comes to watch you as well as we do our best to manage the parking situation.

BAR SERVICE AND WHO’S ALLOWED ON THE PREMISES

Those of you in the clubrooms on Saturday night will have noticed our visit from the license inspector. They were happy with how things were in the clubrooms but did advise us that we need to brush up a bit on some of our procedures, especially around who is on-site. In a nutshell:

People allowed in the clubrooms:

• Members of UCRFC (who should be carrying a membership card). If they have lost or misplaced it please check the list above the sound system.
• Members of UC Netball (who should also be carrying a membership card).
• Members of other rugby clubs as we all have reciprocal visiting rights courtesy of being affiliated to the CRFU.
• Members of other affiliated clubs with reciprocal visiting rights
• Anyone else on the premises needs to be a guest of a member of UCRFC or UC Netball, and SIGNED IN to the visitors book as such, including which club member signed them in.

Please do not be offended if you are asked for your membership card. If you haven’t received one, or have lost yours, please contact me urgently on crisbridger@gmail.com so I can arrange one for Saturday.

EVENTS

Team Photos – Thursday 21st July

30th July – Beer Pong

DUTY

Bar Manager – Jaln Rodgers

Lock Up – John Wright

Duty Team – Tigers

MATCH REPORTS

DIV 1 – COURTESY OF THE CRFU WEBSITE

UNIVERSITY v CHRISTCHURCH

At Chch Park: University 30 (Gaius Reweti, Finlay Christie, Connor O’Leary tries; Marty McKenzie 3 conv, 2 pen; Brad Hemopo pen) beat Christchurch 28 (Inga Finau 2, Ethan Plaskett, Brad Tucker tries; Cam Bailey 4 conv). HT: 10-0. Referee: Liam Scanlon. Sin-bin: Chris Mason, Matt Etheredge (Chch), Brad Hemopo, Marty McKenzie (University).

With both sides starting the game equal 4th with 35 points and guaranteed a top six finish there was little else at stake other than bragging rights.

What unfolded was a thriller with both sides playing with intensity and passion befitting a final.

University wheeled out their big guns in the form of Crusaders Marty McKenzie, Jone Macilai and Jimmy Tupou while Christchurch had prop Tim Perry in their side.

After a tame first half Varsity started the second with a brilliant try to halfback Finlay Christie and were starting to dominate the game, establishing a 27-0 lead after 50min. At this point both sides made wholesale changes from the bench from which the home side benefited the most.

A transformation saw them run in four converted tries and with their supporters behind them they finished with all the momentum. It was a relieved students’ side that scrambled home 30-28 at the final whistle.

Both side’s defensive screens nullified attacking efforts in the first half with the students 10-0 lead coming from a try to prop Gaius Reweti, who burrowed over after 15min from a sustained attacking effort, and the boot of McKenzie.

The visitors injected life into the game from the restart when McKenzie fielded a clearing kick and offloaded to Christie who embarked on brilliant 50m run to score.

Varsity continued to apply the pressure and replacement hooker Connor O’Leary was over after 50min following a quickly-taken tap penalty 5m from the line. With the aid of the McKenzie boot the visitors seemingly had the game under control at 27-0 before the home side staged its fight back.

It was started by second-five Inga Finau with the first of his two touch-downs when he easily sliced through the defence to score after 55min. This was quickly followed with replacement Ethan Plaskett at the forefront of a forward drive to the line following a good lineout win and suddenly the home side were back in the game.

Another forward effort saw lock Brad Tucker over before a timely penalty from McKenzie gave University a much needed buffer.

Christchurch piled on the pressure and were rewarded when Finau crossed for his second and with Cam Bailey adding his fourth conversion the lead was reduced to two. However, try as they might the home side were unable to add any further points in the final minutes.

McKenzie played a key role always looking to initiate attacks from all parts of the field but did take some gloss off his effort with a spell in the sin-bin. Fellow Crusader Macilai, playing at centre, was eager for work but in the main well contained by the opposition.

Christie continued his good season form exploiting any gaps in the defence. Tupou was to the fore with some strong ball carries in midfield and No.8 Sam Goodwin was strong on the burst.

Finau was a potent attacking force for Christchurch and able to part the defence with ease when scoring opportunities were presented. No.8 Tui Mika was strong off the back of the scrum and also a good lineout option, while lock Brad Tucker was buried in the thick of what was a strong second-half effort from the red-and-black forwards.

WOMEN – COURTESY OF SOPHIE ANDERSON

DIV 2 – COURTESY OF JUSTIN RAFTON

With the math of making the Top 8 increasingly working against Varsity’s favour, Coach Jared Brixton emphasized the importance of this matchup. The lads wanted to back up a strong victory against Linwood, and keep the good times rolling. The focus this week on training was on the defensive side and increased communication down the line.

The game did not start to script unfortunately. Penalties, especially at ruck time kept costing Varsity points as the Old Boys kicker was on all day. On top of that, the referee was not scared to go to his pocket. First, the Old Boys hooker would be sent off for ten for interfering with a ruck from an offside position. The boys could not turn the man advantage into points, though fullback Jonty Nesbitt had a scintillating run that nearly put winger Hamish Paterson over, though the latter got a little white line fever with a minor mishandling. Then when the numbers evened again, Varsity had to defend its line valiantly for near 10 minutes. But again, multiple ruck penalties for not releasing eventuated in a yellow card to halfback Jaden Wallace, much to his chagrin. Old Boys would capitalise twice, both by exposing the far right flank of the Yams defensive line. The half would end with another try to Old Boys as their eight man found room on the blindside from a twisting scrum to score this time on the left.

Though down by three scores, the Yams knew where improvement had to be made in defence and had the wind at their backs to help. And they came out from the kick off like a bat out of hell. The pattern began working a treat, pushing the Old Boys defence from wing to wing and questioning their fitness, especially in the forward pack. A reverse swing by prop Justin Rafton to lock Kieran Howden gave him the ingenious idea for a chip kick; the Old Boys fullback took it off the bounce but was immediately rolled over by about five Yams, winning back the ball off of a penalty. The ensuing 5 metre lineout brought the Yams to within a whisper, leading to captain Jamie Verstappen willing himself over the line. Varsity looked to build on this momentum but injury after injury in key positions halted the continuity in play they so desired. Both teams would score once more; the Yams again thanks to a brilliant line break by Jonty Nesbitt to feed Dan Hyndman for a try in consecutive weeks.

Despite the loss, the Varsity lads will look to bounce back once again going into the final two games of the opening rounds with the chance, no matter how slim, to try and make the top 8. Special mention in this contest has to go to hooker Jamie Verstappen, who led the boys exceptionally around the paddock, throwing his body into every encounter. Newly crowned second five Fraser Bryant was a beast in the backline despite a tender ankle, and made the hard yards with every carry. Jonty Nesbitt was the cream of the crop of all backs on the field, with his exceptional pace leaving defenders in the wake.

Brett Menefy Players’ Man of the Match: Jonty Duncan, another big performance from the lock who was dominant at set piece, stepping up in the lineout to fill the void of Ngai, and had an amazing work rate getting to and from the breakdown.

COLTS PREM – COURTESY OF MAX STREET

The Christchurch weather provided another great day for footy as the Prem Colts faced up against Linwood. Being the final game of the first round robin we were determined to show Linwood what this Premiere side was made of, but with a few men still battling injuries it wasn’t going to be any easy feat. We got off to a slow start, a couple of unfortunate errors placed us on the back foot in the opening minutes as Linwood dashed in the corner to commence the scoring 5-0. With some impressive attacking efforts and a few phases later the Prems witnessed their first spectacular try with Charlie Viane Sofe placing through a well-timed kicked for Matt Little In the corner leveling the game at 5-5. Having both teams showing the passionate desire to win, it was a tennis like battle for the rest of the first half, Linwood ran away with a try followed by an impressive forwards push over for Varsity. Witnessing such a close battle in the first half, this game was defined by the determination and commitment from Varsity, having a rocky round robin the Prem colts side simply wanted the win more scoring 3 well-structured tries through both the forwards and backs in the second half to secure the win and a great deal of confidence for the next round. Final score 27-15
Player of the day went to Max Street

DIV 3 TIGERS

That being the case, we put the call out for a pig on spit and a few beers on Saturday night to watch the All Blacks get up over Wales.

Goldy also put us to work clearing a ditch out at Lincoln which essentially paid for the evening’s festivities, which didn’t turn out to be as bad as expected.

COLTS – COURTESY OF KYLE FEARN

After a slow start from us, Merivale Papanui capitalised on a few of our mistakes and run in two tries off errors. We manage to gain a little bit of momentum and Kieran pulled back 3 points with a nice penalty in windy conditions, but we found ourselves down 15 – 3 at halftime. We came out in the second half and lifted the intensity, George Sproat scored just after halftime and gave us good momentum which we carried through the second half. We started to string plays together and scored two more tries scored, one by Kyle Fearn by moving the ball wide, and the other by Phillip Cooper after some good forward work. Merivale Papanui scored one try in second half. The score was tied 20 all with minutes to go, by picking up the intensity again in the final minutes George crashed over for his second and won the game. Final score 27 – 20. Player of the day George Sproat.