My Account
The Mason Containers U21s showed methodical control of the ball, resulting in a striking 74-7 victory against a beleaguered Kumeu on June 15.
It was a sweet victory for Mahurangi who last played an away game with Kumeu in April and lost 20-15 in a tough match against a well-manned side.
Coach Terrence Banks says the boys had some extra motivation at the weekend to push themselves, having lost to Takapuna 19-12 in the previous week in a match that should have been theirs.
“We have improved leaps and bounds since the start of the season. The boys have been working hard on a pattern that suits us, and, as you can see, when it goes right, it is pretty to watch.”
“I have been advocating for a style of play where the boys know and concentrate on their own roles.
We play a structured combination of forward ball control, then, if that’s done its job, it creates space and time for the backs to do what they do best.
“The team has been learning these plays for three seasons and everyone on the back line knows what’s happening when a move is dropped.”
Mahurangi is square in the middle of the U21 standings tables, with five wins and five losses, and has two more games before the quarter-finals.
The games are against the two top ranked teams in the standings – East Coast Bays and Northcote.
“We will most likely be in the quarter-finals looking at where the tables are at, but a bonus point would confirm us. It would also be great to knock a tough scalp that nobody is expecting us to.”
In the quarter-finals, Mahurangi will most likely be up against Marist, which is just ahead in the current standings, making for a highly anticipated match.
Coach Banks has been with some of the current U21 players for 14 seasons and coached them as a First XV team when they won the interschool tournament in Papamoa.
“The club is often overlooked because we are still a small rural area and don’t have the rolls of city clubs like Orewa, but we compete with them and achieve good things.
“I’ve always seen the fact that we are a one college town as a strength not a weakness because we don’t tend to lose a lot of boys, and I think there is more pride here in playing for the jersey.”
He says the club couldn’t achieve the same result without its sponsors, including Central Landscaping Supplies, and Ramona Holt, of the Bridgehouse, who provides the boys with lunch after training.
