Marist leads WRFU Women’s grade
By Jared Smith
Marist sits comfortably on top of the new WRFU Women’s Club Rugby table after the start of the second round of games at the weekend.
On Friday night under lights at Cooks Gardens, Marist extracted payback for their 22-17 loss Taihape at Memorial Park in the opening games, as they picked up a big 60-5 win.
Having recovered from the bout of illness that saw them default to Marist the previous week, Kaierau were back up to strength and made it two season wins over the Marton Queen Bee’s, winning 54-0 at Marton Park on Saturday.
With two weekends left in the round robin, the playoffs format has also been confirmed as the semifinals will be held on Friday, June 2 with the finals the following week, June 9.
Week 5 sees a Friday night double header in Whanganui as Kaierau face Taihape at the Country Club, while Marist host Marton at Cooks Gardens.
The Week 5 draw is
May 19: Kaierau vs Taihape, Country Club, 7.30pm; Marist vs Marton Queen Bee’s, Cooks Gardens, 7.30pm.
Happenings
COLLEGIATE: The 2023 edition of the Whanganui Collegiate 1st XV had a thriller to start their Central North Island (CNI) campaign, beating 2022’s runners-up St John’s Hamilton 43-41 at the school grounds. St John’s had an unbeaten round-robin last year, before being upset by Feilding High in the final. Down 41-36 with time running out, Collegiate saved a try and then swept to the other end to score off an attacking scrum.
SCHOOLBOYS: It was a tough start for the Whanganui High School 1st XV in their MRU Premier 1 campaign, beaten 45-14 by the Palmerston North Boys High Under 16’s on Saturday. In Premier 2, the Whanganui Collegiate 2nd XV defeated Ruapehu 1st XV 26-17, while Cullinane College 1st XV lost to PNBHS Colts 45-15. MRU Youth 4 saw Collegiate Blue beat PNBHS Junior 7 48-19.
