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2013 was a year to forget for Poverty Bay. It was their worst ever result in the Heartland Championship with just one win and a bottom of the table finish. Poverty Bay also conceded the most tries and most points in the 2013 championship. A run of injuries to front-line players in the first half of the competition did not help, and the side also seemed to concede a lot of penalties. The solitary’ w’in over King Country relied heavily on defence.

The very large number of 21 of the 34 players used were new to the colours. These figures are practically identical to North Otago who, by contrast, went all the way to the Meads Cup final. In addition, Tim Gardner had last played in 2011, Puna Latu in 2008, and Kolo Fonohema had made a solitary- appearance way back in 2001, which meant only ten players continued from last season. The retirement of Scott Leighton was a huge loss.

Namibian international David Philander was a class player at fullback but had few opportunities to attack. Scott Milne went better at centre than wing, while Ethine Reeves was the most impressive back but injury blighted his season. Billy Ropiha was solid at centre. Halfback Sam Parkes was an accurate goalkicker. His seven penalty goals against Buller being a new record for the province. He narrowly missed an eighth.

The forward pack tried hard but was unable to consistently deliver front-foot ball. Captain Sione Ngatu was his usual consistent self at number eight, while Paddy Allen got better as the season went along. Murray Hewson made a difference at lock, and schoolboy Micaiah Torrance-Read looked promising at lock also. A change halfway through the season at hooker saw Geoff Pari take his chance. Props Seymour Lambert and Vili Sauaki played every game.

Tane Maguire and Matt Tupa were used as Players of Origin.

POVERTY BAY REPRESENTATIVES 2013

	Name	Position	PL	TR	CON	PEN	DG
	Seymour James Lambert	Prop	8	0	0	0	0
	Penisimani Kolo K.H.F. Mahe	Hooker	5	1	0	0	0
	Kolo Fonohema	Wing	6 (5)	0	0	0	0
	Patrick 'Paddy' Allen	Lock	8 (2)	0	0	0	0
	Leonhard 'Leon' Ake		7 (1)	4	0	0	0
	Micaiah Torrance-Reid	Lock	6 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Sione Tangi Ngatu	Flanker, Prop	8	0	0	0	0
	Sam Philip Parkes	Halfback	8	1	6	15	0
	Tane T.R. McGuire	First Five	6	0	0	0	0
	Scott Ian Milne	Centre	6	0	0	0	0
	Timothy Michael Gardner	First Five, Fullback, Wing	6 (2)	0	0	0	0
	Billy J. Ropiha	Centre	8 (1)	2	0	0	0
	Sisa Vosaki	Wing	5 (1)	4	0	0	0
	Matatua Terepu Ruru	Wing	3 (2)	0	0	0	0
	Geoffrey Pihema Pari	Hooker	4 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Campbell Peter Lincoln Chrisp	Prop	1 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Jone Sega Lesi	Prop	8 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Murray James Hewson	Lock	5 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Henry Bridge	Wing	3 (1)	0	0	0	0
	James Alford	Wing	4 (2)	0	0	0	0
	David Glenn Philander	Fullback, Wing	8 (1)	1	0	0	0
	Efoti Koula Moimoi	Flanker	4 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Ethine Snowden Reeves	First Five, Fullback	6 (2)	1	0	0	0
	Beau Kururangi	Wing	3 (2)	1	0	0	0
	Moss Stuart Doran	Centre	4 (1)	1	2	0	0
	Jason Tuapawa	Lock	1 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Benjamin Andrew 'Ben' Payne	Flanker	2 (1)	0	0	0	0
	Timothy Jonathon 'Tim' Barbarich	Flanker	2 (2)	0	0	0	0
	Puna A. Latu	Flanker	2 (2)	0	0	0	0
	Matt Tupa	Prop	2 (2)	0	0	0	0
	Vili Sauaki	Lock	1	0	0	0	0
	Vereimi Vilitati	Wing	1	0	0	0	0
	Semisi Akana	Lock, Prop	1 (1)	0	0	0	0
	William Thomas 'Willis' Tamatea	Loose Forward	8 (2)	0	0	0	0

We hope you enjoy this look back as we look forward to many more years of recording the history of Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union.
We acknowledge all the information from the NZ “Rugby Almanack” Series from 1934 and appreciate their hard and dedicated work in providing this detailed history. – Web Admin—