Dragons burn Cowboys

A surprise win, a tight battle and a drubbing were the results of the weekend’s club rugby union games.

At the BCI Stadium – the lowly ranked Takuvaine Reds sprung a surprise when they beat second ranked Panthers 28-11.

Reds locks Patrick Ngarua and Teroi Mareko led the way for their team’s win. Panthers captain Kore Herrmann and lock Anthony Pepe worked tirelessly all day but their efforts alone weren’t enough to win them the match leaving the Reds to celebrate a big victory.

Meanwhile in the main match of the week at Ngatangiia – hosts the Dragons burned the Arorangi Cowboys in what was a scrappy game that almost didn’t start due to the Cowboys having trouble fielding a full team.

The Dragons came to life in the second half with the introduction of a strong reserves bench including 6ft 4in national sevens representative Sailosi Nagi who stamped his mark by scoring hat-trick.

Early in the second half a penalty goal kicked by Cowboys halfback Ronnie Maui saw the Cowboys lead by a handy 14-6 and Cowboys were looking comfortable with their forwards dominating the set pieces and winning the contact area.

This however coincided with the second half resurgence of the Dragons, the introduction of a strong reserves bench of impact players, including Nagi, which saw the Dragons ‘wide-game’ suddenly pay dividends with Nagi able to use his pace, power and swerve to score three excellent tries, sending the crowd of Dragons supporters to their feet.

From a scrum on the halfway line, the Dragons backline worked a move for Nagi to run on to a ‘no look’ pass from his midfield partner Thomas Toa to score close to the goal post.

Nagi’s second try came shortly after the first when he doubled-around his left winger Alan Toa and from 40m outsprinted the Cowboys cover defence, swerved past the fullback to touch down.

For his third try he received an inside ball from his right winger and from 30m out he smashed his way past three would-be tacklers to dot down in the right-hand corner.

The last Dragons try was scored by replacement halfback Elia Tangimetua after he chased through his own nicely weighed grubber kick.

The Dragons’ efforts were rewarded with a resounding cheer from their supporters.

In the other senior A grade match at the weekend – the Avatiu Eels defeated the Bulls 30-27 in a closely fought battle.

After leading 27-11 the Bulls let the lead slip as the Eels came from behind to win the game.

- Matariki Wilson

Round six results: Bulls vs Eels (Eels scores first) – Senior A- 30 vs 27, Under 19-14 vs 17, Under 16-7 vs 12, Cowboys vs Dragons (Dragons scores first – Senior A-30 vs 14, Under 13-14 vs 33, Reds vs Panthers (Reds scores first) – Senior A-28 vs 11, Under 19-10 vs 12, Under 16-12 vs 34.