There’s nothing like a good tussle with Marlborough ahead of the South Island U16 rugby tournament, which will be held in Canterbury this weekend.
Nelson Bays clashed with the Blenheim schoolboys at Trafalgar Park on Saturday, and the 92-point match lived right up to expectations.
It was locked up at 45-all with two minutes to play, and Nelson then snatched it with a try in the corner to wing Ryan Quin.
Ironically, Ryan had been working on the scoreboard at the ground on Thursday for the Tasman Mako match.
The scoreboard wasn’t operating on Saturday, so Ryan did the scoring himself after an offload from flying fullback Brad Kershaw, who gets better with each game and enjoyed playing his first full outing for a while, especially on Trafalgar Park.
He beat several defenders with his pace and swerve in the first half, and the region’s top teenage sprinter pulled off a key turnover, in his own in goal, in the second spell.
Rather than play safe, Brad then showed all of his speed to dart 50 metres down field, and that eventually led to a go-ahead try from captain Cooper Bruning.
“I have still got heaps to learn, but there are a lot more holes and gaps at fullback,” says Brad, who also played in that position for the South Island Scorpions rugby league side earlier in the season.
He especially likes working with 1st XV inside backs Vili Holani and Bronco MacDonald.
Vili’s sideline conversions and Cooper’s strong runs were other features.
Captain Cooper’s trademark pick and go led to two tries, the first to supporting halfback Noah Matheson, and the second to himself after a 20m charge.
That proved a double blow for Marlborough as exciting wing Iakopo Aione, who had scored two tries in five minutes to give his side the lead, was left injured after trying to stop the rampaging utility forward.
“My pick-and-go has worked a lot this year, and I will keep doing it until other teams get on to it. They have been struggling to do that,” says Cooper, who started at prop and moved to No.8 which enabled him to play the whole game.
“I prefer the back of the scrum, but I hope to switch to hooker next year. I would rather stay a bit smaller and mobile than have to bulk up. I will have to practice lineout throwing though.”
His other challenge is with referees, as the skipper likes to question rulings if he thinks they have got them wrong.
But Cooper won’t argue with my suggestion that he is like a younger version of blockbusting Mako star Eli Oudenryn.
As for the captaincy, he reckons his 1st XV experience helps in guiding the younger players, especially with the added rivalry against Marlborough.
“We left it right to the end, but it felt good to come out with the win. It is always tough when you play them,” declares Cooper.
Nelson Bays was without two of its regular starters, prop Ezekiel Taualofa, and wing Nukumaanu Conmee-Ahoafi, who were playing for the South Island Scorpions at the National Youth League Tournament in Auckland.
The pair celebrated an upset 10-8 win over Canterbury in the competition opener on Sunday.
