Ōtorohanga return to winning ways

Ōtorohanga showed they are a premiership-quality side with their win last weekend.

After a slight hiccup against Varsity the weekend prior, the Ōtorohanga Golds returned to the winner’s circle with an impressive showing at Island Reserve.

The 21-19 victory was a tough one and they came from behind to achieve it, showing their character and strength to get across the line.

With three wins from four matches, Ōtorohanga sit in fourth place, narrowly behind Hamilton Old Boys, Hautapu teams the Golds have beaten and Hamilton Marist, who they don’t play until May 27.

Against Old Boys, manager Merv Carr said it was a really good performance.

“We played well. Last week against Varsity was a bit of a blip by the guys and they know that, so it was nice to see them go out there and work for the win against Old Boys.”

Varsity wasn’t a performance the side were proud of, and Carr said winning tight against Old Boys was a good confidence booster.

“Both teams had good wins. It was a pretty successful day out for the club.”

Carr paid credit to the strong Hamilton Old Boys outfit, who provided a stern challenge for the Golds.

“They are a tough side. We had a bit of a glitch last week.

“Our boys had been building and we knew they were up for it, we knew it would be a big one and managed to hold on and get the victory.”

It was 11-7 to Ōtorohanga at halftime, however, the visitors came out firing after the break and bagged a couple of tries to race ahead 19-11. Ōtorohanga managed to kick a penalty and score a converted try to take the spoils.

“We just made basic errors against Varsity where on Saturday against Old Boys we didn’t do that as much and it allowed us to get some momentum and push for that win.”

It’s a tough competition and next week doesn’t get any easier as they host United Matamata Sports, seeking to reverse last year’s result when Ōtorohanga were well beaten.

“The guys definitely want to get a victory over them. It will be tough, there’s no easy teams in this competition.”

In the victory, Golds were strong in the set piece. The forwards delivered good lineout and it was just a good battle overall, Carr said.

“They are two pretty big packs so they combated each other well.”

“Everyone has been playing well with the forward pack really gelling well together, while Dominic Clapcott has been great for us at 10 guiding the team around the park and Te Amo Wilbore has been showing his class at fullback.”

So far, the team have won both games at Island Reserve and want to make it a third this weekend.

“We have just got to continue accumulating points.

“We managed four at the weekend for the win, a losing bonus point against Varsity because it’s going to be tight, and any points will help us.Every little point counts this round.”

There’s plenty of new faces this year and while they haven’t clicked completely there’s plenty to like.

“Huts [Hutana Coffin] has got the team going quite nicely. We’re not quite there, we’re still making basic errors when we shouldn’t be and [not] sticking to the game plan, but the signs are there.”

In the win, Tai Edwards and Taruva Lumelume scored the tries, while Clapcott was sharp off the tee with a conversion and three penalty goals.

Ōtorohanga’s Blues also picked up a come-from-behind victory against Old Boys.They were down 30-19 with nine minutes remaining but some fantastic work by the team saw them snare two tries to sneak a 31-30 win.

It was a great result considering they dropped their clash the weekend prior against Varsity, going down 36-31.

Despite losing 49-19 to Melville, the Ōtorohanga women’s team put in a spirited showing.