Town vs Country: Celtic and Ruapehu to decide Senior crown

By Jared Smith

There will be a fresh WRFU Senior champion as a different set of finalists will contest the Division 1 crown on Saturday at Cooks Gardens.

Tasting the crown they have been so close but so far away from claiming in the last 14 years, Ali Arc-T D Brick & Blocks Marist Celtic made it consecutive weekend wins over Gemini Pepper Construction Kaierau, but this time the scoreline wasn’t close.

As the main event on Spriggens Park, Celtic scored 22 points in each half for a 44-8 blowout, with Kaierau unable to repeat their late comeback from the week before which saw them just qualify for the playoffs via two bonus points.

It will be a familiar script for Celtic, going to Cooks Gardens to face a side with Premier-level quality, as McCarthy’s Transport Ruapehu prevented Ratana making the trip for the third consecutive year.

But it was a near-run thing, as a sole converted try in the second half was just enough to hang on 17-16 at Rochfort Park.

In their first season as a solely-Senior club, Ruapehu had comfortably beaten Ratana 32-12 the week before to lock in the home playoff, but Ratana came firing back in the return fixture, after trailing 10-6 at halftime.

There was another thriller in the Division 2 semifinals, as Kelso Hunterville once again pulled themselves over the line in crunch time, scoring 13 unanswered points in the second half to just get past Utiku Old Boys 18-17 at the Domain.

This was also a rubber match – Utiku winning the Country group game while Hunterville claimed the second round fixture – with the home side lifting another gear after trailing 17-5 at halftime in wet conditions.

For Hunterville, having won eight Senior championships and a Division 3 title since 2009, the win means another trip back to Whanganui for finals day, but going with them will be Utiku’s cousins Bennett’s Taihape, who will look to combine with their Premier squad in the quest to claim two trophies.

Taihape’s strong first half at Memorial Park against Counties carried them to a 34-14 win, getting all their points with the wind behind them.

Counties to their credit never gave up, and scored both their tries late in the game, but the result was already decided.

Semifinal results, July 9

Senior Division 1

At Spriggens Park: Ali Arc-T D Brick & Blocks Marist Celtic bt Gemini Pepper Construction Kaierau 44-8. HT: 22-3.

At Rochfort Park: McCarthy’s Transport Ruapehu bt Ratana 17-16. HT: 10-6.

Senior Division 2

At Hunterville Domain: Kelso Hunterville bt Utiku Old Boys 18-17. HT: 17-5 Utiku Old Boys.

At Memorial Park: Bennett’s Taihape bt McCrea Scanning Counties 34-14. HT: 34-0.