Hi ,

Another great start to my day watching Ella (Granddaughter) at Netball with a win.

If you were unable to make it to the Tawa Old Timers Day, you missed a doozey. Starting with a Presidents Game vs Johnsonville, The Premier 2's in the first Battle of the Bridge and the Premiers securing the Bridge.

The Tawa Prezzies Team was a real who's who of past Players, as I am sure the same could be said of J'ville. A pretty well contested Game with plenty of short sprints. Well, except for Fats! There is some research going into whether that is the most tries scored by Fats in one Game, or as one Wag said "in his whole career". I am sure he scored them both near the Clubrooms on the off-chance one of the Premier Coaches was watching. A great spectacle that kicked off a cracker afternoon.

Following on was our Premier 2's with the first part of the Battle of the Bridge, the clash against Norths. The Game was played in ideal conditions, but just blew out score-wise as the Norths Boys struggled to keep up. This was the last Game in the first round with the Harper Lock Shield to be presented to our Boys. It was indeed my privilege to present the Shield on behalf of the WRFU, to Brad and the Team after the cheering died down - a bit anyway. In 3 Seasons, these Boys have not lost a Game (2 Draws on the way, but no loss) and I have been privileged to hand the Harper Lock Shield to our Boys at the end of the First Round each of those years. As a side note, I was talking with one of our Old Timers, Harold Thomas, and explained that the Shield was here to be presented today. The moment I said Harper Lock Shield, Harold said "we won it in 1964".

Our Premiers (as noted above) secured the Bridge with a pretty resounding win over a Norths side bereft of their usual stars. In typical style, Norths stayed in the Game, but the determination of our Boys to not just win, but get a Bonus Point to secure a Top Eight made for good watching. A very good win and secured the Sam Sei'ili Trophy for another Season.

Our Colts had a loss on Friday night to Ories, but still 4th on the Table.

The Tawa Ducks had another Cricket score at Redwood. Last Game in the Round coming up.

Reserves had a loss to Upper Hutt Thirsties at Maidstone Park.

The Aftermatch Function upstairs was pumping. As usual, it was great to have the North's 100 Club on board in good numbers, but it was absolutely awesome to see so many Tawa people in the Clubrooms. I don't think I have seen such a Crowd since our 75th Jubilee. Equally awesome was to have Neil & Sue from Autocrash at The Fortress as well. Best wishes and Bon Voyage Neil & Sue, for your long awaited trip back to the UK.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!! The Good. What a Great Final in the 'Tron' on Saturday night. The Game had the hype (deservedly), the weather, the Crowd (sell out!), and a bunch of Men keen to show their talent and ability to showcase one of the great Super Rugby Games seen this Season - and there have been a number. It was the sort of Game that had it been a Draw after 80 minutes, it would have been a fair result, but, in Finals Rugby, someone has to win. There is something about the Crusaders "never say die" attitude along with no-one seemingly caring about two losses this season to the Chiefs. Having said that, the Chiefs looked as though they were going to pull it off. One hell of a Game for sure.

The Bad. The Chiefs Coach casting aspersions towards the Referee's ability, along with The Co-Captains not fronting to the Media. Mind you, Cane did tell the NZ Rugby Public a few years ago, that we "know nothing about Rugby!!" And he is the All Black Captain. No-one seemed to be overly concerned about the collision where Lienert-Brown contacted McLeod in a tackle with a head clash. It was a RED Card all day! Consequently the Citing Commissioner was concerned and dealt with it accordingly. I will admit, the above Coach and Co-Captain have tried to make amends, but we will be talking about the first reaction, no-one will remember a half assed, back handed apology!

The Ugly!! The Final Whistle accompanied by Booing! Sam Whitelock - Man of the Match - Booed. Scott Barrett, Captain, Booed, Team Booed! In fact the continual Booing whilst someone takes a kick at Goal, or in fact anywhere is not something I wish to see. If the Supporters and General Public think we are losing Players now, this kind of reaction will not help. We have to sharpen up.

On to brighter things. Last Sunday saw the first Formula E race in Portland, USA. What a race. Our Kiwi Boys were right up there. Nick Cassidy started 10th and Mitch Evans started 20th. At the Chequered Flag it was Cassidy 1st and Evans 4th. Apparently their Lap times were not far off IndyCar times. Evans took the Lap Record for Formula E. It was only 3/4 years ago that Formula E had two cars per Driver, due to battery performance not able to go full distance. Now the Electric Racecars are doing the Bizzo, and I believe they will soon start to take Lap Records at various Race Tracks - you heard it first on Tawa Rugby Report.

This weekend is the start of the Jubilee Cup Round over at The Villagers Camp. Our P2's will be in charge of The Fortress in the Ed Chaney competition

Allan G Davidson
President

UPCOMING GAMES | 30 JUNE

UPCOMING GAMES | 1 JULY

SWINDALE SHIELD 

HARPER LOCK SHIELD

PACK THE BUS | RANFURLY SHIELD 

The Lions are gearing up to defend the Ranfurly Shield against Horowhenua-Kapiti on Wednesday, July 12. It's going to be an epic battle that you don't want to miss!

🚌 To show our support, we are organising a bus trip to the game. This is also a great opportunity to keep the kids entertained during the school holidays. Let's create an incredible atmosphere as we cheer on the boys! 

Cost per person (Includes return bus trip and entry to the game)

Adult $35 

Child  $25

Please email amyvnz@gmail.com asap to secure your seat! 

Let's make some noise and rally behind our TRFC Lions! 📣🔥