Our Waikato U19 men’s have gone undefeated across their eight-game campaign to retain the Dave Rennie Shield and to win the Northern Region U19s competition for 2024 – their third title in as many years.

Kicking off the campaign the men travelled south for pre-season hit outs vs Wellington and Hawkes Bay respectively – coming away with two hard fought victories and confidence full before their competition weeks.

Opening the competition vs Counties Manukau our men started strong with a comprehensive 70 points to 22 win at Marist Park.

Next up was the road trip to the winterless north where we went to battle vs Northland as part of their triple header weekend to open their Bunnings NPC season in Whangarei. Getting in the cars and starting the journey at the crack of dawn, the early start did not stop the season form and with it picking up a 90-0 win over the home side.

Heading into the bye weekend our men topped the standings and were looking in good form for the back half of the campaign.

Round four rolled around and we were back home at Marist Park hosting the previously unbeaten Auckland side. Our men did not let the bye weekend slow down any momentum winning 25-24, in what was a tight back a fourth battle between the two sides.

Following a solid momentum building win over Auckland the men travelled down to New Plymouth to square off against Taranaki and picking up a solid 41-15 win on the road to remain unbeaten.

Next up North Harbour awaits. For many of the young men it was their debut on the home of Waikato Rugby at FMG Stadium Waikato. Further to the experience, it was arguably the worst conditions to play a game of footy in. The boys went well in those difficult conditions winning 30-10 maintaining the perfect record to the season.

The final match up was a roadie across to Katikati where we played Bay of Plenty, with the simple equation of win the match and the Dave Rennie Shield was secured for another season and the perfect eight from eight record will become a reality.

The Sean Botherway led side with Mark McConnell & Jackson Willison assisting brought home the Dave Rennie Shield, also securing the Northern Region Under 19s competition title. 

Waikato Rugby want to acknowledge to unmeasurable contributions made by the wider team and the support staff including Sean Chenery, Tomas Galdames, Brad Morgan and Steve Shale.

In a special milestone for the side, the team was proud to see teammate Oli Mathis make his NPC debut, with many other players coming through our Waikato Academy and development programme with aspirations of higher honors.  

Article added: Tuesday 24 September 2024