SAS College Rugby League Under-85kg and Under-15 Grand Finals

The first finals of the 2014 SAS College Rugby League season took place at Mount Smart Stadium #2 on Wednesday July 2.

The opening game was an all St Paul’s affair, with two of the school’s under-15 sides going head-to-head for ultimate honours.

St Paul’s Blue got the scoring underway on three minutes, crossing through standoff Daymon Abbey.

The brother of current Junior Warriors fullback Bradley, Abbey displayed quick feet and vision throughout the contest and looks one to watch in the future.

Maroon hit back with a couple of tries of their own, dominating off the back of some positive play from mobile back-rower PJ Toalima.

In a back-and-forth contest the teams traded blows before half time, with Maroon taking an 18-12 lead into the break.

Swift hands saw big centre Mike Williams go over in the corner to start the second period, before man of the match Star Toa shut down a Blue attack by scooping a loose ball and running 100 metres to score the game-sealing try.

St Paul’s Maroon beating their blue brothers 28-16 to take out the SAS CRL under-15 Grand Final.

The field was pelted by rain prior to kick off in the under-85kg match, with a big crowd gathering under the shelter of the grandstand.

They might be classified as cruiserweights, but the battle on the field was worthy of the heavyweight tag, as both teams clashed with crunching hits on both sides of the ball.

After kicking off it took Mangere under a minute to get the ball back, as their aggressive line speed forced a St Paul’s error.

Mangere got over for the first try on 10 minutes, with St Paul’s returning serve through centre Eliu Letuituia.

St Paul’s booted a penalty just before oranges to lead 8-6 at the midway point.

The crowd were getting into the contest and riding every hit, and a penalty from Mangere standoff Tamore Nati opened the second-half scoring.

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