02 April 2022

Akarana Falcons put on a dominant 36 – 14 win over Waikato at Auckland, Bruce Pulman Park.

Akarana opened the scoring with an offload pass to Tuipala Fa’aee to put Akarana in the lead. Minutes later saw winger Esom Ioka busting through two Waikato defenders to add another four to Akarana’s scoring account.

Waikato forced their way back with a superb try from fullback Western Tehuri who found himself stretching over the scoreline to secure their first points before the whistle. Akarana leads Waikato 10-4 at halftime.

Two minutes into the second stanza, an error from Waikato found Joshua Tanielu catching a loose ball and taking it over the line to open the scoring account for the Akarana. Moments later, Akarana attacks again, with Tyson Davies powering over the Waikato defenders to put Akarana further in front.

With Akarana dominating the game, Waikato managed to find a four-pointer from winger Noah Wood, sprinting up the left wing and over the line to open their account in the second half.

Still, Akarana were too dominant across the park scoring a further back-to-back try from Elam Payne and Kenneth-Seth Henry-Taua. But Waikato bounced back with another four points before the full-time whistle. Benefiting from Akaranas errors saw winger Noah Wood easily barge over the line for his second try of the game.

Doux Fiatau-Kauhiva scored his first try in the final minutes to secure Akaranas win over Waikato 36-14.

Akarana Falcons  – 36

Tries: Tuipala Fa’aee, Esom Ioka, Joshua Tanielu, Tyson Davies, Elam Payne, Kenneth-Seth Henry-Taua, Doux Fiatau-Kauhiva

Conversions: Tuipala Fa’aee (4/6) Doux Fiatau-Kauhiva (1/1)

Waikato  – 14

Tries: Western Tahuri, Noah Wood x2

Conversions: Jardyn Stillmvich-Watene (1/3)