New Brighton Rugby

Rnd 1 Report

The senior’s started their 2016 campaign in style on Saturday with a 48-17 win over Marist at Sheldon Park. It was a match where the Brighton forwards dominated their Marist counterparts. A hat-trick from winger Mark Burton and tries to Louis Harman, Rawiri Karena, Roy Katonivere, Jerry Meafou and Trent Sherlock sealed maximum points for the Brighton side. There was concern early on when Aaron McCoy succumbed to an ankle injury in the lead-up to the opening try by Harman after ten minutes. The seasiders dominated the first 15 minutes but found themselves 7-5 down midway through the first spell however on the half hour Burton scored his first try to give Brighton the lead again. Karena then extended the lead just before the break with a strong forwards scrum paving the way for the prop to crash over and give Brighton a 17-7 lead. Burton was sinbinned right on the half time break for his part in a scuffle which spilled over onto the Marist bench. Playing with 14 men didn’t appear to be a problem when McCoy’s replacement at Number 8, Katonivere was the recipient of another huge Brighton attacking scrum. Although Marist looked to come back into the game five minutes later with a try and reducing the deficit to ten points the reintroduction of Burton from the sin bin had immediate affect when he scored his second try quickly followed by the Meafou try just before the hour mark and all of a sudden Brighton had a 22 point lead into the final quarter. Marist scored again although it was only consolation with eight minutes to go which was still enough time for Burton and first five replacement Sherlock to dot down and push Brighton near 50 points. Brighton coach Scott Pawson was happy with the result although admitted there were still a couple of things to work on which was expected after one game into the new season. He admitted his side were “scratchy” in parts although he put that down to a new team and not that much of a preseason but was very happy with many aspects of the team’s performance. The forwards were signalled out as was Katonivere who had a fantastic game as McCoy’s replacement at the back of the scrum. Burton and John Vili were both electric from the back making plenty of metres. The team play Burnside at Burnside Park next Saturday as they look to go two and zero in 2016.