A youthful Maniapoto rugby side is the new custodian of the endearing Peace Cup after romping to a 38-20 win over Central Bay of Plenty.,
The one-off match for the historic trophy was arranged after holders Hamilton relinquished it.
The trophy – humorously referred to as the ugliest in the country – dates back to 1919 and spent much of its time as a symbol of rugby sub-union supremacy.
It was also treated with a minimum of respect – resulting in its battered form.
An Eady Manawaiti selected Maniapoto travelled to a cold and windswept Rotorua on Saturday and produced a rugby performance up with the best.
The former King Country rugby player named a squad after his Bush United club was unable to field a squad this season. As he wasn’t coaching during the club season, he travelled the North King Country region to watch other teams.
“I went out to view trainings and games at Te Kūiti. Piopio, Waitomo and Kio Kio. I also took an interest in some of our Bush players who decided to play in Hamilton in division 1A for Suburbs,” Manawaiti said.
His team finished a two-match campaign with two wins – having beaten Counties Manukau Māori in a friendly match for the re-opening of Centennial Park. In Te Kūiti.
“We were delighted to have a presentation by Ngāti Maniapoto iwi member Doug Ruki on the history of the Tupuna Maniapoto,” Manawaiti said.
Ruki also wrote a haka for the team’s short campaign. “The history lesson itself created an opportunity for the players to connect to that side of their whakapapa or genealogy, whether Māori or non-Māori,” Wanawaiti said.
Maniapoto’s pack took command from the kick off against Central Bay of plenty and had the home side pinned in their defensive zone for the opening 20 minutes.
As a result, a 14-nil scoreline had the visiting supporters in good heart after number 8 Jayden Pari had scored two fine tries capitalising on the dominance of his tight forwards and fullback Ben Hedley nailed two conversions from out wide.
CBOP converted a handy penalty goal before scoring a long range try against the run of play with an intercept and the scoreline was down to 14–10 as halftime approached but the action did not tail off.
Right winger Jake Laurent once again showed what a great talent he is scorching away from cover defence for another try in the corned and Hedley latched his radar onto the posts and banged over another great conversion.
CBOP completed the first half scoring a try from a botched Maniapoto lineout and at half time the 21–15 scoreline left an air of expectation for an interesting second half.
Again, from the restart it was the visitors who profited and Pari scored a third try which was arguably his best, bursting away from a midfield maul and dashing 40 metres to finish under the posts. It provided Hedley his easiest conversion.
Hedley was to the fore shortly after scoring his own try and another conversion before Maniapoto skipper Kauri Coffin franked the victory with a further try and Hedley had a rare miss with the kick.
CBOP completed the scoring with a late try but it was Maniapoto -nicknamed The Leftovers – who celebrated an historic victory returning the Peace Cup to their North King Country base.
“To complete our campaign unbeaten with unexpected victories against quality opposition demonstrates there is some real talented players in our Rohe,” campaign manager Paul Senior-Partridge said.
“Now with the Peace Cup residing here we can forge ahead with planning for our defence next season, and we have already fielded interest from potential challengers.”
One of the most pleasing aspects of the campaign was the promotion of some great younger local players such as Waitomo’s Brooklyn Pye, Freemin Te Whare and Tipene Perawiti.
Waitete’s Wiremu Harris and Riddick Rangitonga, Piopio’s Kyan Reymer, Jayden Pari, a real star in the making, and Brad Ostern who answered a call on the morning of the game and came in as a late replacement.
Bush United’s Isaac Wana was a standout player throughout and the young Te Kuiti pair Ben and Mitchell Hedley will continue the family dynasty – they are very clever players with youth on their side.
Skipper Kauri Coffin was outstanding in all aspects, and one astute observer credited his performance on Saturday as his best game ever, dictating field position with astute kicking, running at the right time and pulling off some punishing tackles.
“Few gave us much hope when we started out and hopefully these young men will get the respect they now deserve moving forward and to see the development under our experienced coaching panel puts them in my hero category,” Senior-Partridge said.
Maniapoto iterations have a history in the Peace Cup with a win in 1941 and then again in the early 90’s.
