All systems are go for club rugby in the Waikato. Saturday 15th April saw the return to rugby for our Division 1, Premier Women’s & Colts competitions after they all played one match before Easter, while the Under 85kg, Division 2 & Women’s Championship has all now had their first competition match. 

Home victories to four of the five premier clubs including an impressive first victory for the men from University over Otorohanga which many would have picked as the upset of the weekend. University hosting their Varstonians Day, with all their teams at home together for the first time in 2023 - all defeating Otorohanga.

Other victories included Hamilton Old Boys defeating Te Awamutu Sports and maintaining their perfect start to the season and holding top spot on the ladder. Hamilton Marist also the only other unbeaten side in the Premier competition continued their impressive start with a comprehensive victory over Melville to be biting at the heels of Hamilton Old Boys. United Matamata Sports were fittingly the first victors of the Power Farming George Simpkin Memorial with their impressive first win of 2023, beating Morrinsville Sports 29-17. Hautapu were the only side to taste victory away from home on the weekend beating Fraser Tech 43-24. 

Week two of the Women’s Premiership were all one-sided affairs with Hamilton Marist beating Putaruru 38 nil. A hattrick to Marist’s inform Number 8 Lataina Moeakiola was the highlight of the afternoon, with touchdowns to tight head prop Falelua Sao, loose forwards Sina Neli and Logan Hauraki with four from six off the tee for First Five Anahera Campbell.

University celebrated Victoria Makea’s 100^th Premier match with a strong Victory over Otorohanga – Victoria scoring a double for herself. Other try scorers were Finau Mafi, Melenaite Toofohe, Calista Ruruku, Hinemaringi Scott and doubles to Mia Robertson & Rayarn Tamati.

Melville continued their strong start to the season with a win over Southern United with 10 tries of their own – four of those to loose head prop Chyann Kaitapu, with doubles to Lela Ieremia and Shae Daley. Ashlee Gaby-Sutherland and Rianna Aspinall rounded out the scoring for the afternoon.

Hamilton Old Boys Huskies continued their winning ways beating Kihikihi 64 nil. Featuring the return of 2022 Black Ferns winning Captain Kennedy Simon, the Huskies were always going to be hard to beat for Kihikihi. With talent spread across the board the Huskies ran in 10 tries of their own with inform kicker Aaliyah Konui kicking at 70% off the tee for an old round impressive afternoon.

The Women’s Championship got underway for their second season. United Matamata Sports got a good home victory over Waitete 15 – 5, while Taupiri travelled over to Hauraki and won 35 – 19.

Division 1 rugby returned after their Easter long weekend break. Like the Premier competition, it was a largely happy day for the home sides with 4 of those five victories going to the home team. Bucking that trend was Te Rapa heading north to Taupiri and upsetting the locals 30-29 with a penalty kick in added time to snatch that victory. Leamington and Putaruru got their first wins of the year after week one draws, Leamington beating Southern United 20-12 and Putaruru beating Frankton 46-12. Ohaupo recorded their second consecutive win at home over Hinuera 34-25 and Pirongia defeated Suburbs 13-10 in what was another near thing for Suburbs. This is already shaping up to be a tight competition in 2023, and the battle for the Top 5 is really going to be on over the next few weeks.

Like Divison 1, our Colts returned from their week off. Newcomers to our competition saw Thames Valley United go back to back and their first win at home over Hinuera. Victories to Hamilton Marist, Hautapu, Morrinsville Sports & Suburbs see those sides on the maximum 10 points from two matches with only points differential separating the teams, the other unbeaten teams Hamilton Old Boys & Thames Valley United on nine points rounding out the top 6. Only two games into the season it is still too early to read too much into the start of the season. With all sides playing each other over before the split for the second round we will soon see the top sides continue to rise to the top.

Arguably, the closest games from the weekend came from the Under 85kg Competition. Our 2023 edition is a 6-team affair, featuring a double round robin where all sides play each other at home and away before the playoffs in July. Throughout the season the teams take a couple breaks to compete in the NZR National Club Cup.

Week one saw a rematch of the 2022 final – Hamilton Marist hosting Morrinsville Sports. Getting their first win over Morrinsville since June 2021, Hamilton Marist kicked off their season in the best possible manner winning 18 – 12 at Marist Park. Morrinsville’s first lose in the opening weekend since pre-2019. Both teams getting across the line for two tries and a conversion, the difference on the day was two well taken penalty kicks at goal by the home side.

Melville travelled across town to take on Fraser Tech and getting a tough first up win. Two tries and a sole penalty kick to Fraser Tech’s two penalty kicks was enough for Melville to open their 2023 campaign with a 13 – 6 victory.

Other final match was Leamington travel to Kio Kio where they scored an impressive win 20 to 15. Unfortunately, not the best day off the kicking tee for Leamington going 0 / 4, thankfully the ability to score tries was enough for them to start the season on high.  

Division 2 saw victories to Hamilton Old Boys Guzzlers winning by default over Kihikihi, Hamilton Marist winning 15-10 over Jaradites and Kereone beating Southern United 42-5. Huntly will wait for week 2 to get their season underway with a bye in week one.

Article added: Monday 17 April 2023