Bryan Arnold scoring for East Coast. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
RUGBY
CHRIS COGDALE
[email protected]
East Coast are the Wairarapa-Bush sevens champions after beating Martinborough in a tight final at Trust House Memorial Park on Saturday.
The Coasties were in dominant form going through the day unbeaten.
They kicked off with an easy 44-0 win over Marist Wolves and then beat Marist 29-10 and Carterton 31-14 to wrap up Pool B, with Carterton also qualifying for the semifinals.
Martinborough and Gladstone were expected to fight out Pool A, and their clash in the first game proved to be decisive. Martinborough’s 21-17 victory saw them take first place in the group.
In the semifinals, East Coast beat Gladstone 14-10 and Martinborough thumped Carterton 33-0.
The final was closely fought with East Coast pulling away in the second half for a 20-10 victory.
RESULTS
ROUND ONE
Pool A: Martinborough 21 Gladstone 17
Pool B: Carterton 24 Marist 12
Crossover: East Coast 44 Marist Wolves 0
ROUND 2
Pool A: Gladstone 50 Marist Wolves 0
Pool B: East Coast 29 Marist 10
Crossover: Martinborough 28 Carterton 5
ROUND 3
Pool A: Martinborough 26 Marist Wolves 12
Pool B: East Coast 31 Carterton 14
Crossover: Gladstone 19 Marist 7
SEMIFINALS
Martinborough 33 Carterton 0; East Coast 14 Gladstone 10
FINAL
East Coast 20 Martinborough 10
