Big feeds set aside as Manukura power to national rugby title

The Manukura dynasty rolls on. The Palmerston North-based powerhouse have successfully defended the Hine Pounamu National First XV championship with a resounding 39-24 victory over first-time finalists Howick College.
Howick enjoyed a slender 19-17 advantage at the interval, but the whirlpool wind at Arena Manawatū turned against the spirited east Aucklanders as Manukura cast an anchor inside Howick territory.
Ominously for Manukura’s rivals their seventh and final try was scored by Year 9 Ashby Pewhairangi. It was set up by Year 10 Elley-May Taylor who might have been the most influential figure in the match. There were only three Year 13s in Manukura’s matchday squad and coach Kristina Sue warns there’s penalty more to come.
“If complacency creeps in results suffer,” Sue said.
“I’m as interested in the process as I am in the result. We want our wāhine to become students of the game and grow academically at the same time.   
“Ashby started our Hurricanes semi-final win against St Mary’s and was incredible.
“I don’t support the age ban policy in girls rugby. Those situations need to be examined on a case-by-case basis. If you can compete, physically and have experience, you should be allowed to take part. Ashby comes from a strong league background.
“Last year our fullback Araia Keighley-Rain missed out and yet she was one of the main reasons we won the Condor Sevens.”
The start to the final was like something out of a blockbuster film. Six exhilarating tries, three apiece, were scored in a breathless 20 minutes.
It was Howick who struck the first blow with bustling, direct carries. Openside Marica Tukana was both powerful and nimble in assisting tighthead prop Joy Fiu in her smash-down
Howick didn’t secure the restart and was punished. Manukura constructed swift phases and tight head prop Danica Talitonu crashed over after a Maia Davis pass created a smidgen of space. 
Talitonu and Davis are Manukura’s most senior players. Davis has already played for the Manawatū Cyclones, scoring three tries in a 55-24 slaying of Wellington on August 25. Her ability to distribute, run, kick and control the tempo was pivotal. Talitonu emptied her tank hurting with sustained brawn.
Manukura’s second try was gifted to them after Howick halfback Rochelle Christie dropped the ball cold five metres short of the paint and Davis swopped.
Then Christie emphatically atoned for her blemish with a Ruahei Demant-style offload to first five-eighth Sina Mariner who surged 40 metres.
Suddenly Howick had irrepressible momentum. There didn’t appear to be a distinction between backs and forwards and fullback Jaedah Hansen finished an incursion that involved multiple handlers. 
While Manukura lacked the size of Howick, their foraging flankers were technically proficient and unrelenting.  
Taylor snaffled a turnover and lobbed wide to Te Maia Sweetman who scootered 25m to make it 19-17.
The frantic pace couldn’t possibly last and the final dozen minutes of the first half was strewn with errors.
“The key messages at halftime were ‘support the ball carrier’ and ‘chop tackle’. Howick had some big girls who were starting to get momentum. If you could stop that, we backed our fitness and tempo to finish on top,” Sue said.
“The coaches don’t talk at halftime, Hera Maihi does that for us. She’s an outstanding leader who would have started for us until she got an ACL injury. We’ll communicate with Hera throughout the game but we want to empower the players to take control similar to what happens in the Black Ferns Sevens.
Reinvigorated Manukura seized the initiative after halftime with their hustle at the breakdown, shrewd tactical kicking, and tighter-knit attack. Taylor propelled Manukura ahead when she twisted, wriggled, and flopped over manically in the grasp of three. Workhorse lock Kingston Taiapa followed suit with similar grit as the lead mushroomed to 29-19.
Howick’s bid wavered and when a deft touch by Taylor found Talitonu, one one-on-one with a hopelessly stranded defender, it became 34-19.
Unusually Manukura left the ball unprotected at a ruck. Second five-eighth Malena Lavea gleefully poached and Asha Taimoepeau-Williams sprinted 40m. The clash between Taimoepeau-Williams and hulking Manukura centre Patricia Heihei, already signed by the Panthers NRL franchise, was a spectacle.
Howick was a hope at 34-24 but even Sisyphus would struggle to exit the 22 in the wild wind. Manukura stayed stoic and structured and it was entirely appropriate the youth of Pewhairangi and May-Taylor applied the exclamation mark on exuberant excellence.
But coach Sue wasn’t always impressed with her young chargers.
“Before the semifinal on Friday, there was a buffet breakfast with hash browns, bacon, eggs. Some of the girls dug in and were playing on full stomachs which explained our slow start against Hamilton Girls’.
“One of the things I’m most proud of this weekend is the girls corrected that. They never get that at Manukura. We’re hard on them but we want to develop good habits.
Manukura beat Hamilton 38-17 in that semifinal.
Howick conquered Christchurch Girls’ High School 22-17 in their semi. Howick has long been a pacesetter in sevens rugby with two victories and two runners-up places at the National Condor Sevens since 2018, while their Under-15s have won three Condor titles.
This season Howick stepped up to XV’s and swept through the Auckland championship undefeated. Former Fijian international and legendary Auckland winger Waisake Sotutu (85 games, 36 tries, 70 wins) coaches Howick – with his wife Adelita the school’s director of sport. Sue was unsurprised by Howick’s rapid ascent.
“Howick’s Sevens success happened around the same time we became a contender so I’m well aware of who Howick are, and what they can do. We’ve had some absolute thrillers over the years,” Sue said.
“They’re a big school with a lot of quality athletes. They’re well coached by Waisake and if they continue putting in more resources they’ll continue to have success.”
Manukura: 39 (Danica Talitonu 2; Maia Davis, Te Maia Sweetman, Elley-May Taylor, Kingston Taiapa, Ashby Pewhairangi tries; Davis 2 con) Howick College: 24 (Joy Fiu, Sina Mariner, Jaedah Hansen, Asha Taimoepeau-Williams tries; Taylah Seng 2 con) HT: 17-19