TRILLO METALS CANTERBURY BULLS DO THE DOUBLE IN WELLINGTON

The Trillo Metals Men’s and Women’s Canterbury Bulls teams came away from their hit-and-run mission to Wellington with a win apiece against the Orcas at Rugby League Park.

Sealing a place in the NZRL National Men’s Premiership final, the Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls completed a cleansweep of the competition’s southern section with a 34-20 victory.

Canterbury also retained the Centenary Shield and Adrian Shelford Memorial Trophy by outlasting Wellington on its  home patch.

The victory was set up by a dominant first-half display from the visitors, who raced out to an 18-0 lead.

Veteran centre Ken Tofilau crashed out wide off a Jimmy Wihongi pass in the opening minutes.

Five-eighth Wihongi scored the second himself near enough to the same patch of grass with a combination of footwork and power close to the line on the right edge, before superb lead-up work on the left from halfback Etelani Pouli and rookie fullback Thomas Ruwhiu set up front-rower Maoluma Sakaria to storm over for a try.

The Orcas got on the board before the break with an unconverted try and scored first after the break, but the Bulls responded in the 51st minute when 41-year-old warhorse Kyle Leka wound back the clock with a big right-foot step to spear over the line for a 24-10 scorline.

Wellington showed some impressive goal-line resistance and kept its hopes alive with a 60-metre try on the hour mark, but the Trillo Metals Canterbury Bulls effectively wrapped up the result when interchange debutant Jamieson Ilalio sniped through from dummy-half.

Captain Pouli iced the victory with a dummying, hot-stepping solo effort with eight minutes to go before the Orcas grabbed a late consolation try.

The Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls take on Counties Manukau Stingrays in next Sunday’s NZRL National Men’s Premiership decider at Massey Park, Papakura (12pm).

The Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls’ 30-18 win followed a similar script, powering to a big halftime lead before holding off a spirited Wellington Orcas revival.

Skipper Charntay Poko and fullback Kyla Lynch-Brown combined to send experienced centre Bayli Rapira in for the opening try, Cassie Siataga’s superb ball-playing created the space for the brilliant Lynch-Brown to slice through to score, and diminutive wing rookie Lucy Mahuika danced over for a try from a Siataga bomb as the Trillo Metals Women’s Bulls built an 18-0 advantage at the break.

The Orcas rallied, however, to post three unanswered tries and level up the scores with 12 minutes to go.

The Bulls regrouped through hooker Caitlin Sears, who dummied and dived over under the posts to retrieve the lead, before more beautiful ball-playing from Siataga and hole-running from Lynch-Brown set up centre Shade McGregor-Pakau for the sealer.

The Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls’ third victory in five matches clinched a richly deserved third-place finish in the NZRL National Women’s Premiership, behind next week’s finalists Counties Manukau Stingray and Akarana Falcons.

NZRL NATIONAL MEN’S PREMIERSHIP – ROUND 5

Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls 34 (Ken Tofilau, Jimmy Wihongi, Maoluma Sakaria, Kyle Leka, Jamieson Ilalio, Etelani Pouli tries; Wihongi 4 goals) defeated Wellington Orcas 20 at Rugby League Park, Wellington. Halftime: Canterbury 18-4

NZRL NATIONAL WOMEN’S PREMIERSHIP – ROUND 5

Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls 30 (Bayli Rapira, Kyla Lynch-Brown, Lucy Mahuika, Caitlin Sears, Shade McGregor-Pakau tries; Cassie Siataga 5 goals) defeated Wellington Orcas 18 at Rugby League Park, Wellington. Halftime: Canterbury 18-0.

Photo credit: Michelle Wong