6 October 2022

The final game for the girl’s youth tournament at Owen Delaney Park in Taupo saw the Counties Manukau Stingrays face off against the Wellington Orcas for the U16 Girls Championship.

Counties Manukau looked strong early in the game as their defence kept the Wellington Orcas under pressure forcing errors which resulted in Counties striking early in the match. Throughout the game both teams traded blows as they looked to capture the ascending but both teams were evenly matched with ten minutes remaining.

An error made on their own line by the Stingrays went unpunished as the Orca’s fumbled the ball off the scrum. Counties then took control of the match, as MVP Josinah Filisi Tauiliili made her imprint, making two incredible linebreaks to set Counties in great position. With five minutes left Danii-Nicole Gray put the Stingrays ahead with a penalty goal, and not too long after Braxton McGee-Sorensen put the game out of reach with a great effort to score in the left hand corner.

Final score 22-16 to the Counties-Manukau Stingrays.