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Coast beat Wanganui in boilover
Monday, September 24, 2012 • John Hill
IT was rugby party time on the Coast at the weekend after Ngati Porou East Coast beat Meads Cup champions and unbeaten Heartland Championship leaders Wanganui at Whakarua Park, Ruatoria.

The 25-17 win, only the Coast’s second victory in 24 games between these two teams, keeps alive the Sky Blues’ hopes of winning the Meads Cup.

Poverty Bay could not complete the double, going down 24-23 to North Otago at Oamaru. The Bay are also vying for a place in the top four playoffs.

With the Coast and the Bay due to meet here on Show Day in the final round-robin game before the semifinals, it is shaping up as a game not to be missed.

“It would be great if we and the Bay made the top four,” said Coast coach Ngarimu Simpkins.

“But there are still two games to go before we meet and I’m sure Bay coach Grainger Heikell, like me and Rua Tipoki (Coast assistant coach), is taking one game at a time.

It was not Wanganui’s day after their team bus became stuck in the sand at Reporua beach.

The players decided to take a trip to the beach but someone forgot to mention it was not really suited to a busload of players.

The players had to be ferried to Ruatoria by cars while a dozer was called in to get the bus off the beach.

“I think some of our players thought they were here for a holiday,” said Wanganui coach Jason Caskey.

“We tried to warn them that it was a hard trip to win but you have to give credit to the Coast — they were by far the better team.”
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