Coaches
| Andre Arnold | 027 289 2740 andrejarnold@xtra.co.nz |
| Duncan McLean | 021 147 4451 duncanandprudence@woosh.co.nz |
| Donald Riezebos (Team Manager) |
027 243 5658 plimmer.riezebos@xtra.co.nz |
Training
| 5pm, Wednesdays at Hataitai Park |
Fixtures & Results
| # | Date | Versus | Park | Time | Result |
| 1 | 17 Apr | Bye | Bye | ||
| 2 | 24 Apr | Wests Lions | Ian Galloway 4 | 9am | Lost 55-5 |
| 3 | 1 May | Ories Magpies | Prince of Wales 2 | 10am | Lost 64-5 |
| 4 | 8 May | MSP Panthers | Hataitai | 10am | Lost 39-10 |
| 5 | 15 May | Poneke Scorchers | Prince of Wales | 10am | Cancelled |
| 6 | 22 May | Wests Falcons | Ian Galloway 4 | 10am | Won 39-10 |
| 7 | 29 May | Wests Irish | POW 1 | 10am | Cancelled |
| 8 | 5 Jun | Wellington Short Blacks | Hatiatai | 10am | Lost 42-5 |
| 9 | 12 Jun | Poneke Barbarians | Martin Luckie 1 | 10am | Lost 26-22 |
| 10 | 19 Jun | MSP Shamrocks | Evans Bay | 10am | Won 34-22 |
| 11 | 26 Jun | Jville Sharks | Martin Luckie 3 | 10am | Cancelled |
| 12 | 3 July | Wests Irish | Hataitai | 10am | Lost |
| 13 | 17 July | Poneke Scorchers | Te Whaea | 9am | Won 42-5 |
| 14 | 24 July | Ories Magpies | Polo 1 | 10am | Cancelled |
| 15 | 31 July | Wests Lions | Hataitai | 10am | Cancelled |
| 16 | 7 Aug | Johnsonville Sharks | Martin Luckie | 10am | Won 40-12 |
| 17 | 14 Aug | Wests Falcons | POW 1 | 10am | Won 29-15 |
| 18 | 21 Aug | Wests Irish | Ian Galloway 4 | 10am | Won 20-17 |
| 19 | 28 Aug | Wgtn Short Blacks | Haitaitai | 10am | Lost 30-10 |
Match Reports
Season Photo Gallery: Click Here
Prize Giving - Sunday, 29th August
MVP - Jean - Luc
Most Improved Player - Will
Team Player - Sean
A hard decision in all categories to select but in the end we went with -
Sean for constantly topping our tackle stats during the season;
Will for scoring some outstanding wingers tries during the season; and
Jean - Luc for having the complete attacking and defensive game.
Henry and William U went very close and honourable mentions go to Dylan, Niko, Louis who were always in the mix. George was another one to have a huge season.
Strong contibutions were made by Hamish, Ben, Benjamin, James McL, James L, and Sidney.
| Game #19 |
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Tries - Jean-Luc, Sean
Players of the Day - Dylan, William U, Jean-Luc
Compared to the first gameagainst the Short Blacks earlier in the season, this time we had a greater amount of possession and territory especially in the second half.
We managed to score two good tries and went close a few other times. This was a feat in itself as we know how good the Short Blacks are on defence and this was the second most number of tries they had conceded in a game all year.
Monsoon conditions hit the game in the second half. The handling skills from both teams in the conditions were remarkable.
Dylan and William in the forwards played huge games and were ably assisted by the rest of the pack.
The backs always tried to play positive attacking rugby. Both teams were keen to have a crack throughout the game.
A few one off simple tackles being missed were probably part of our downfall, if we were being critical.
Thanks to the Under 10 players who helped us out and I hope they enjoyed the experience.
One could not fault the effort shown by the team and the commitment, nor the improvement they have made during the season.
We can learn alot from the Short Blacks and salute them on their fine season and setting a benchmark for us to aspire to.
Having only 15 players all season has made it a challenging season as too many times we have had to assimilate numerous wrings in from the opposition on the day to get to 15.
We need to get the lads to work hard on any of their friends who may be interested in playing rugby next season.
Prize Giving - Sunday - 29th of August
MVP - Jean - Luc
Most Improved Player - Will
Team Player - Sean
A hard decision in all categories to select but in the end we went with Sean for constantly topping our tackle stats during the season.
Will for scoring some outstanding wingers tries during the season and Jean - Luc for having the complete attacking and defensive game.
Henry and William U went very close , honourable mentions for Dylan, Niko, Louis who were always in the mix.
George was another one to have a huge season.
String contibutions from Hamish , Ben, Benjamin, James M, James L, Sidney
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| Game #18 vs Wests Irish - Won 20-17 |
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Captain - Sidney
Players of the day - Sidney,Dylan, Hamish and Niko
Tries - Will (2), Niko and Henry
It dawned a beautiful sunny Saturday morning and we arrived at Ian Galloway to be greeted by another very boggy ground. Mud, mud glorious mud.
This year we have had a squad of 15 and for various reasons only 12 were available for this game. Wests kindly lent us three players and the game was on 15 verus 15.
I think it would be fair to say that Wests expected that they were going to give us a bit of a pasting. We certaintly realised the challenge we had as the Irish are well coached, have quality players and play an attractive style of rugby using both their forwards and backs.
The forward pack played their game of the season and hence we have named 4 of the forwards as players of the day.
Three of the 4 tries were scored by our wingers showing that even in boggy conditions this team has a desire to play attacking rugby and exploit the full width available on the field.
We always knew these lads could score tries but could they tackle - today they showed us they can tackle to.
Every player made a contribution to the team performance.
The improvement in the team from the the start of the season is quite evident. Going forward we will need to recruit additional players for next season.
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| Game #17 vs Wests Falcons - Won 29-15 |
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Captain - Ben
Player of the Day - William
Honourable mentions - Will, Shaun, Henry
Tries - Will (4), Shaun
Conversions - Henry (2)
The Dominion Post - Wed, August 4 , 2010 page A8 - " Prince of Wales 1 has been a bog hole for probably two months. It resembles a duck pond more than a rugby field "
We can confirm that this is still true but we would rather be playing rugby in a bog hole than not playing at all.
In a willing encounter both teams got into a torrid forward contest with the Axemen more keen to play an expansive game in slippery muddy conditions.
Wests were getting a slight edge in the forwards but the Axemen backs looked more dangerous and they managed to get the ball to the wings much more often, defying the conditions.
Most of the lineout ball was tapped back and the Axemen forwards did not quite cotton on to driving through the lineout to chase the ball on the ground.
The first half saw both teams score 2 tries each, for a half time score of 10 - 10.
Wests scored soon after half time to take the lead 15 -10 and appeared to be getting on top in the forwards but the last 20 minutes belonged to the Axemen who stormed home from here to finish off winning 29 - 15.
All 5 tries were scored by the backs - with Will scoring 4 on the wing and Shaun one .
William lead the forward pack my example, ably assisted by Dylan and Niko.
Wests lost a little bit of composure near the end chipping away at their own referee and amongst themselves.
Credit to the forwards and the inside backs to create enough one on one or overlap opportunities for the wingers and these were expertly finished off by Will.
Credit to the whole TEAM for coming back from behind and playing for each other and not for themselves.
Some great photos taken by Nick can be seen on the website link to the game.
These muddy games are great in terms of seeing who are the muddiest and are analysed by the coaches in identifying those whose jerseys and bodies that are not suitably covered in mud.
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| Game #16 vs Johnsonville Sharks - Won 40-12 |
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Captain and Man of the match - George
Honourable Mentions - Dylan, Louis, Niko
Tries - Jean-Luc (3), Henry (2), George, Dylan, Louis
The Axemen arrived at Martin Luckie ( Duckie ) and we were greeted with a cross between a duck pond and a swamp.
The Axemen backs weren't put off by the conditions and threw the ball around like they were playing on a dry ground. The catching and the passing was of a very high quality.
The Axemen notched up 6 tries before half time with Johnsonville scoring on the hooter, 30 points to 7 at half time.
The second half saw a more forward oriented game.
Seven tries to the backs were testament to their skill and attacking mindset and some quality position provided by the forwards. The forward pack were effective in driving over the ball and several times drove over the Johnsonville ball,
The win was a result of a real team effort with everyone doing their job. Captain and player of the match George, was outstanding on the wing. The photo of the team - covered in mud, at the end of the game was priceless and no doubt will go in each boys scrapbook Full credit to both teams playing in the poorest conditions seen for a long time.
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| Game #15 vs Wests Lions - Cancelled |
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Unbelievably cancelled. Instead some of the boys had a run around at Kilbirnie, including a Sons vs Fathers game!
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| Game #14 vs Ories Magpies - Cancelled |
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The Saturday game was cancelled but the Under 11 Axemen entered the Waikanae Sevens tournament on Sunday.
The sun shined and Kapiti Island looked spectacular as the Axemen travelled up the coast to the Waikanae Sevens, arriving just before noon with a full squad of 10.
The boys scored 15 tries in the tournament. The try scorers were -
Jean-Luc (4)
Henry (3)
Niko (3)
Dylan (2)
Louis
Shaun
Will
The first game up was against Norths and with all the ball in the first half we lead 4 tries to nil at halftime. The second half saw the reverse and Norths scored a tight try right at the end to draw the game 4 tries each. Next up we played Poneke and where outmuscled by some big units - 6 tries to 1.
We then knocked over the home team Waikanae 5 tries to 4 in front of a large crowd of home supporters in a very entertaining match.
We approached the next game, against Rahui, with some trepidation as they had just beaten Poneke 8 tries to 1. In a game in which we had our chances we were beaten 3 tries to 2 and certaintly gave as good as we got. ( Rahui ended up winning the Pool and going to the Final). Last up was Tawa and the lads were tiring. We had a half time lead but got run down in the end 5 tries to 3. The Axemen attacking game was on the money as 15 tries would attest, with some brilliant passing, great running and plenty of commitment on attack. It was easy to see the intensity on the boys' faces and love of running with the ball as they got that white line fever. Defensively we leaked to many soft tries and some of the one off tackling was not quite what we hope for. It was an enjoyable day for players, parents, and families and we would recommend to all this as a great tournament to play in. |
| Game #13 vs Poneke Scorchers |
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Captain - James McL
Player of the Day - Will
Valuable assist awards to Syd, George, Ben, James McL
Try scorers Will (6), Jean -Luc , Louis
Our first game on the artificial and as it rained heavily we benefited by having a firm track and no mud on the ball.
The game was played at a very fast pace with the ball being moved to both sides of the field with very little dropped ball by both sides.
All the forwards had their best game of the season - driving over the ball on the ground and presented, fast, clean ball to the backs who got the ball through the
chain to both wingers. Well done Forwards!
It was also pleasing seeing some of the tackling being made much lower than in the past and bringing the ball carrier to the ground.
Will had a blinder with some expert finishing, scoring 6 tries (a Double Hat Trick) from the left wing position but many of these were a result of the hard work of the forwards and the inside backs. A TEAM effort!
Thanks to Angus for supporting the team as we were one short on the day.
The whole team then met up at the clubrooms at 4pm for gridiron and then a soccer game and then headed in at 6pm to the Stadium to see the All Blacks play the Springboks. A good time was had by all.
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| Game #12 vs Wests Irish - Lost |
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Captain - Niko
Unfortunately we had 5 players away on the first weekend of the school holidays. So with a squad of 15 for the season we were reduced to 10 players. Wests lent us 3 and we played 13 against their 14.
Wests were to well drilled and exploited the extra man they had in the backs. We also struggled to cope with assimilating the loaned Wests players into our team.
At least we fronted up as we could have easily defaulted the game.
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| Game #11 vs Johnsonville Sharks |
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Cancelled |
| Game #10 vs MSP Shamrocks - Won 34-22 |
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Captain - Shaun Try scorers - Jean -Luc (3), Henry, Louis, Will Player of the day - Jean-Luc, Louis
Evans Bay Park was in good condition and after a stirring pep talk from Prudence an entertaining first half resulted with both teams scoring 3 tries each.
Will expertly finished off a classic backline move and Henry presented with a clear run to the line sprinted 55 metres with the defender in hot pursuit all the way for a thrilling try.
Jean - Luc weaved his way through the defence to score the final try before half time.
The Axemen had the better of most of the second half with Jean - Luc gliding his way through the defence for two more tries, to complete a hat trick for the day and Louis jinked his way with lovely foot movements for a try as well.
Sean and Dylan directed the backline superbly and George and Lewis made strong contributions.
The forwards showed improvements in driving over the ball but need to focus on the counter drive and where the ball is on the ground.The back row need to focus on their scrum defence.
That said they all showed good commitment and where all prepared to get into the physical battle - against some big units - well done - James L, Benjamin, Ben, Hamish, Sydney, George, James M, William, Niko.
Another pleasing improvement was the level of communication on the field between the boys. Thanks also to Donald and Andrew for their help on the sidelines.
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| Game #9 vs Poneke Barbarians - Lost 26-22 |
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Captain - Jean-Luc Players of the day - Will, Jean-Luc and Niko Try scorers - Will (3), Dylan
A classic game of two halves.
The first half saw the Axemen on fire , scoring 4 tries and one conversion to take a 22-0 lead at halftime.
Several of the tries were as good as you would ever see at any level of rugby, with Jean-Luc, Sean and Dylan creating space for the wingers and Will scoring a classic hat trick of finishing wingers' tries by half time.
The second half saw the team become a little to individualistic in the back line and the forwards began to tire (having no substitutes this year has hurt the team at times in the forwards).
Niko, Hamish and William gave their all in the forwards but slowly Poneke grinded the forwards down.
Poneke scored their 4th and last try with 3 minutes to go, to take the lead courtesy of 3 conversions to our 1 , with both teams scoring 4 tries.
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| Game #8 vs Wellington Short Blacks - Lost 42-5 |
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Captain Player of the Day - Will Try Scorer - Will We finally got to play against our club mates the Short Blacks. The first half saw a dominating and strong forward performance from the Short Blacks. Our younger and less experienced forward pack tried their best to counter but were no match for the relentless driving play they encountered. The half time score was 0-27 The second half saw an improved performance and a pulsating wingers try was scored in the corner by Will. From memory all of the Short Blacks tries were in the forwards and that summed up the game for us. Withe forwards being driven back it was hard work for the backs. They managed to deal with the Short Blacks out wide but were sometimes reluctant to help the forwards out in the rucks and mauls. |
| Game #7 vs West Irish - Cancelled |
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Some shocking weather saw this game cancelled. Instead the Axemen went bowling at the Lanes for a couple of hours. There was a far wider range of bowling styles than the coach ever thought was possible. Nonetheless some good scores were racked up and a good time was had by all. |
| Game #6 vs Wests Falcolns |
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Captain: Hamish Try scorers: Henry (2), Jean-Luc, Niko, Will, William, Dylan Conversions: Dylan (2) Players of the Day: The whole team
The Axemen were in a rampaging uncomprising mood right from the start.
Bullocking and powerful running up the middle from James M set the platform and brought back memories of last year.
With the forwards starting to drive over the ball on the ground and mixing it up with periods of strong mauling play, the backs were presented with a feast of possession and they started to explore the full width of the field with attacks down both flanks.
Tries to Niko (showing Kronfield type support play), Henry (gliding down the sideline with twinkle toes) and Jean-Luc (a 55 metre run from the base of the scrum), set up a 17 points to 5 half time lead.
Dylan conducting the show like he was at the symphony orchestra was soon rewarded with a jinking try. Soon after, Henry, finished off a blitzkrieg advance up the field as Axemen raiders moved the ball from side to side up the field.
A little latter, Will scored a breath taking try down the sideline with a in out swerve, then put the gas on like a Ferarie to score.
Shaun, Louis and George all displayed quick hands throughout the game, giving the impression they had been earning a living shuffling cards in Las Vegas for the last 5 years.
The forwards starting to pick and go more often, resulting in William wrestling his way over for a try like he was John Cena. Jean-Luc soon followed up, holding up a player again over the try line for the third time in the game as if he was Rey Mysterio with a 619.
Hamish (Captain of the ship) steered well from the front and competed well at lineout time, snaring plenty of ball on our throws, ably assisted by some accurate throwing from Ben who got around the track like a thoroughbred.
Sidney, James L, and Benjamin drove hard into rucks and mauls all day in the manner of Roman legions.
The matched finished with the Falcons crashing over for a try, resulting in a 39-10 (7 tries to 2) victory.
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| Game #4 vs MSP Panthers - Lost 39-10 |
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Captain: Hamish Players of the day: Hamish, Shaun and Jean-Luc Try scorers: Shaun and Dylan Another loss but a much improved performamnce by the Axemen. A good first half with a lot of possession and near misses as far as tries are concerned. A try in each half - first fromShaun and then Dylan. Some great performances all round. Of partcular note was Hamish for being a great captain, showing great leadership skills, Shaun and Jean-Luc for their tackling, Henry for an outstanding tackle on the try line stopping an almost certain MSP try and James L for all round improvement.
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| Game #3 vs Ories Magpies - Lost 64-5 |
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Captain: James McL Player of the day: Dylan Try scorer: Henry Another difficult game against some big players who were hard to catch on the break. The Axemen had a few good periods near the Ories try-line resulting in a try from Henry. Some obvious areas to work on in practice, highlighted in the game were tackling and the importance of players being there behind the player with the ball to give support. |
| Game #2 vs Wests Lions - Lost 55-5 |
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Captain: William U Player of the day: Shaun Try scorer: Jean-Luc A hard fought game against a fast, well drilled team who had already played a couple of games on a full sized field. It was good to see the Axemen re-group in the second half, start to contain Wests and then Jean-Luc score a try. Player of the day was Shaun for some outstanding tackling. View of the week from Jean-Luc (and Dad)
I woke up early, as today, was to be the day, I played my first game of rugby on a full size field, 15 v 15 players. I play half back and in the past we have played only on a half size field, 10 v 10 players.
No pesky flankers and No 8 to worry about from the base of the scrum, so plenty of room to run.
For once I put my Rugby gear on without Dad even asking and was keen to get out the door. We were picked up at 7.45 am and as we turned the corner a parked bus down the road had been burnt by a fire at six in the morning; was this an omen?
We headed to Ian Galloway Park (the Cage) for the official weigh in and then a game against the West Lions. We were a little apprehensive as some of the team were close to the cut off weight and if they were over they would have to play up a grade in another team. The weigh in went fine, as my team mates were all eligible to play.
My friends Will, Niko and Henry all showed great courage today in playing. Yesterday Will's forehead had collided with a concrete wall and required stitches, Niko had had a tummy bug and had been off school sick the previous day, and Henry had buggered his foot during the week and missed practice, barely able to walk. As well as all that Dylan was still a week away from playing after breaking his arm.
The game started with a roar, the Lions were mauling us to death - we couldn't escape their claws. The first half was poor - the Lions ripped us apart. We were the like Christians in with the Lions in a Cage and we could not escape. Fourteen Christians versus 21 Lions, although the Lions were good as they lent us a few cubs.
The Lions were strong,fast,organised and skilful.
Thankfully half time came and in the second half we slowly got better. Sean, top tackler of the day started running, Louis started dancing with his feet, James started running and Hamish started driving players out. Our confidence started to build. Scrum - 20 metres out from the line - AXEMEN BALL. I put the ball in and then ran from the base of the scrum evading the flankers and other defenders to score in the corner. TRY AXEMEN.
Today I learnt that when running from the scrum now, you have to get a little wider, to get away from the flankers.
Kick off again and we were back down their hammering on the goal line to score again when the whistle blew for full time. The last ten minutes were our best part of the game, we were now on top.
After the game the Lions Coach who is involved in the Wellington Junior Zone rep programme told me if I kept playing well I might have a good chance for future selection.
We learnt a lot today from the Lions and now know what we have to work on - driving over the ball when it is on the ground with low body positions and our heads down, backs coming up fast and making their tackles, chasing hard the kick offs and looking where we kick off to, everyone making TACKLES.!
We also learnt that many of my teammates have courage and we know from the past they have the ability to learn and improve during the season just like we did last year.
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| Game #1 - Bye |
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No game today but a fantastic practice at Club night the night before. This follws on from some good practices starting before the school holidays.
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