Newington v Kings
by”rugbycheersquad”
It was a cool, cloudy day with intermittent gusty winds, normally blowing from the Newington Road end of the field. The tunnels formed and two proud teams ran onto the field to rousing war cries and singing.
The spectators may have been somewhat sparse in number but they were high in enthusiasm. One thing which was clear was that both sides had shown up to play. Newington was looking sparky, and Kings determined.
First half
After an early penalty, Newington took the lead with a powerhouse run by Helu on a pick and drive. Serhon made a break but fell short. Simonsson took up the challenge and scored in the corner. Team try.
Kuenzle made good on a conversion attempt into the wind. The score was 7-0 to New, six minutes into the game.
On restart, Newington’s Clifford made a break and his pass was almost intercepted. After interplay between the forwards, Loga-Tarogi carried the ball through with blinding speed to assist the try scored by Taukamo. Conversion successful; 14-0.
After a couple of penalties against Newington and some good play from Kings, a Kings player went over the try line, but the ball was held up.
Then there was some mystifying kicking down the field by Newington which failed to secure any advantage.
This was followed by a penalty against Newington for tackling the Kings’ halfback without the ball. Kings elected to go for a long goal, but the kick was pulled to the left.
Kings’ Pietsch made a searching run, but was held up on his feet by several Newington players, for a maul to be called. Then Kings took another long range penalty shot, this time from 49 metres. Unsuccessful.
Presently Newington got on fire: first Simonsson intercepted and powered on for an individual try, and after some unstructured play Murray capitalised on a poor Kings’ defensive read to score Newington’s fourth try of the half.
Half time score 26-0.
Second half
After some dogged Newington defence and the ball held up for a second time, Kings’ tenacity was rewarded seven minutes into the half. Millar offloaded to Poletto, who thundered over for a try, which was not converted. Scoreline 26-5 to New.
This was quickly answered with a corner try by Newington’s Simonsson, which likewise was not converted.
Three minutes later, a joint effort between Helu, Lawson and Loga-Tarogi resulted in another try in the opposite corner. No conversion.
New’s Loga-Tarogi had another good run before a gutsy tackle by Ryan of Kings. Newington’s Long continued the charge with the ball finally being taken across the try line by T. Atiola, against the grain. This time Kuenzle found his form and successfully converted. A bit of back and forth play ensued with several lost balls and turnovers.
Kuenzle ran and executed a skillful pass to Taukamo, who scored, and Kuenzle transformed the five points into seven.
Kings’ Pietsch was everywhere for a while, including putting a crushing tackle on Kuenzle, and then stealing the ball. But New were the next to score when Lawson went over after a lineout drive. The conversion attempt missed and the score was 55-5.
Kings finished strongly, with Pietsch taking the ball from the lineout and C Orpen scoring in the corner. The Kings’ kicker was unable to convert.
Final score: Newington 55 – Kings 10
The players
Newington
Winger Bailey Simonsson – his ability to beat a man and finish is brilliant.
No. 8 Nathan Lawson dominated in a dominant forward pack. Made some exceptional line breaks.
Prop Opeti Helu was a wrecking ball and made ground continually.
Kings
No. 8 Dylan Pietsch was everywhere and never lost heart.
Winger Chris Orpen – his was a constant effort and his try to end the game was his reward.
Openside breakaway Jack MacKenzie-Wood – for his work at the breakdown.
The wrap-up
Newington remains undefeated in the GPS. They had periods of flair, but lost focus from time to time.
Kings were tenacious and had some good combinations on occasions.
Overall, it was a hard-played game, free from cards or any obvious niggle. There were several infringements at the breakdown by both sides; the referee was consistent and allowed the game to flow, in the main.
Scoring
Newington 55 (B. Simonsson 3, T. Taukamo 2, C Murray, S. Loga-Tarogi, T. Atiola, N. Lawson tries, B. Kuenzle 5 cons) def. Kings 10 ( D Poletto, C Orpen tries).
