ARL footy is back for the 2023 season! We kicked off our representative tournaments for our U16 and U18 grades. After a long pre-season our boys were pumped and ready to get stuck in. Cornwall Park played host to four fantastic games of rugby league. All the games were livestreamed and are available to watch on the ARL YouTube channel. 

SJ Shield (16s) | Game 1: Auckland Red vs Auckland Blue

The opening game of the day saw a battle between a tough Auckland Red forward pack and a star studded Auckland Blue backline. The start of the game was quite sloppy with both sides unable to complete sets early, but both teams got in the rhythm of the game and it made for a close second half. Auckland Blue started very fast in the second half, scoring a couple of early tries. A lack of discipline from the Auckland Red side proved to be costly throughout the second period. Tipene Cooley had an outstanding game, his craftiness out of dummy half created a lot of opportunities to help his side go on and win the game 28-8. 

SJ Shield (16s) | Game 2: Auckland Black vs Auckland White

The second game of the day saw another fixture of the Shaun Johnson Shield. This was a very close matchup between the two sides early in the game. Ashton Denton-Woodhouse got the first try in spectacular fashion with a one handed grab backing up hooker Zion Sitani. In the second half the 1,9,13 combo took over with Ashton Fraser having some barnstorming runs and a try. Zion Sitani controlled the offence and was solid on defence. Denton-Woodhouse finished the game with a spectacular run away try wrapping up the game 28-8.

DB Cup (18s) | Game 3: Auckland Red vs Auckland Blue 

The third game of the day saw the kick off of the Dean Bell Cup. Both teams started off the game in quite a nervous way, trying to find those newly formed links proved difficult early on. This cost the Auckland Blue side in the first 30 minutes and it allowed the Red side to capitalise off those mistakes to build a lead. The tide turned in the second half and the blue side started to complete some sets and put on some spectacular footy. Christian Junior Sikuvea inspired his Blue side back to within two points of Red, but a couple of incomplete sets with 10 minutes to go proved costly and the Red side ran away with the game 22-18.

DB Cup (18s) | Game 4: Auckland Black vs Auckland White 

Our final game of the day saw a fantastic match up in what was the game of the day. Both teams started the game hard and fast. Throughout the game it was a battle of the half backs. Rico Toeva-Ward and Ashton Norman Te-Pou. Overall the link play between the Auckland Black side looked smooth for the majority of the game, with a high quality team performance. Which gave them the win. Toeva-Ward took over in the second half and came up with some massive plays which allowed his team to do what they do best and get Auckland Black across the line with a 28-14 win.

SJ Shield (16s) | Game 5: Waikato v Coastline 

The tournaments went down the line to wrap up the first round of action, starting with the 16s on Sunday. Waikato played host to visitors Coastline at League Park in Ngaruawahia. The two sides had a physical contest, with plenty of big runs and strong defence on show, but it was Waikato who were able to secure the 18-6 win.

DB Cup (18s) | Game 6: Waikato v Coastline 

The home side continued the momentum from the 16s with Waikato shooting out to a 18-nil lead in the first half. Coastline got a couple in before the half to try and pull themselves back into the game and head into the break down 22-8. A similar story in the second half, with Waikato grabbing three unanswered tries to extend their lead before Coastline hit back, resulting in a final scoreline of 46-14.

More action is yet to come in Round 2 next weekend. Keep an eye out for the full draw release and the Georgia Hale Cup kicking off in the final weekend of February. All three tournaments wrap up with Grand Finals on April 1st.

Article added: Monday 13 February 2023