Rugby league: Eagles, Tigers early winners

The Dunedin rugby league season got under way at Logan Park on Saturday, when the East Coast Eagles and the Kia Toa Tigers came away with victories.

The Eagles scored a hard fought 36-30 over University in a match which was an arm-wrestle for momentum.

Kieran Fitzgerald led the Eagles well as captain and his directing of play and running game helped put his side in contention for the entire match.

Tama Apineru was dangerous out wide for the Eagles while Hyrum Martin had an excellent game, running hard with the ball and also putting his teammates into space.

Tuisana Latu, Kingi Hautapa, and Antonio Ikahihifo also impressed for the winners.

Tyson Ball led University from the front, hammering the opposition defensive line with some aggressive hit ups and scoring a nice try.

University coach Ray Fitiao said new recruit Junior Meafua was the standout player in terms of effort and workload. He was on the wing, but easily had the highest hit up count, and made a couple of breaks.

Other new players to the side made positive starts also.

Brooklan Niwa got two tries and Lundon Wiliamson bagged one.

In the end it was Martin's two late tries which made the difference and handed the Eagles a victory against a strong Otago University outfit.

In the other game, Kia Toa won 42-12 over the South Pacific Raiders.

The first half was a tough contest. The Raiders scrambled well on defence to keep the Tigers at bay and attacked nicely.

At halftime, there was very little to separate the two sides and it looked set to be a close finish.

However, in the second half, the Tigers really laid on the attack and went on a try-scoring blitz to put the game away.

Vila Apuula was up to his usual tricks, leading the Tigers' attack with flair and having a part to play in five of his side's tries.

Shane Unahi was also a key factor to the Tigers' attack, gaining plenty of metres with the ball and scoring three tries of his own.

Hagan Free and Dan Fowler also picked up two tries each.

Sam Brame and Manassah Kutia were both key performers, leading their side around the park and imposing their presence when given the ball.

They also each scored one of the two tries for the Raiders, and Jordan Ruatoe added the extras, converting both tries.

Add a Comment