Waikato Under 20’s v Thames Valley Heartland Team

11th August 2009 06:07PM

TEAM: Waikato Under 20’s v Thames Valley Heartland Team 

Waikato 46 Thames Valley 3

 Under 20 Trial Squad :

Backs:Kane Adams, Jimmy Horsford, Declan O'Donnell, Joe Perawiti, Glen Robertson, Joe Reynolds, Jono Malo

Forwards: Rory Grice, Jackson Nightengale, Semiti Gaunavoua, Josh Tyrell, Longo Takataka, Nick Seymour, Steven Lowe, Jarrod Cannon, Ethan Pollock, Nathan Lamb, Rakutia Vakalabure, Maru Henry, Trent Nattress, Brad mayo, Murray Iti, Jo Scheres, Aaron Kelly, Tyler Sherman, Adrian Hall, Latu Talakai, Vance Elliot, Bevan Wright,Loni Uhila, Greg Relph 

Tries: Rory Grice x 2, Kane Adams, Joe Perawiti, Maru Henry, Declan O'Donnell, Joe Reynolds

Conversions:  Joe Reynolds, Kane Adams x 3

Penalty Kicks:            Kane Adams

Drop Goals: nil 

Conditions: Fine sunny day with a firm playing surface. 

Halftime: Waikato 29 Thames Valley 3

After a hard two days pre-selection training camp at Whanagamata the Waikato U20 had a final team selection trial game against the Thames Valley Heartland team. The Waikato U20's started strongly and were 7 nil up after the first 5 minutes and from this point on never relinquished their lead. The team played entertaining rugby scoring seven tries in the process.  Thames Valley were shut out of the game with the Waikato forward pack dominating the forward exchanges and set play phases. With plenty of ball to play with the Waikato back line did not disappoint and worked well together both on attack and defensively. The team showed a high level of skill considering this was their first game together and played with pace and high rate intensity.  This was a good start to the 2009 campaign particularly after a hard physical work load the previous two days prior to this pre selection game. All players displayed a high level of dedication over the preceding 2 months leading up to the finial team selection and have make it hard for the selectors to trim their team down to 26 as all players on display to date have proved themselves to be  worthy selection. This was a good team effort with all players making a large contribution to an entertaining encounter.