An oddity of the Central Otago premier club rugby competition is that four of the five leading try-scorers after five rounds of competition are props. Mostly seriously big props, and in Joji Ravula’s case, awesomely large, around the 130kg mark.
Ravula scored his third and fourth tries of the season at Jack Reid Park on Saturday as Arrowtown dealt to Cromwell by 40 points to 22, a team they had beaten only once in their last 10 clashes.
If you are a lightweight defender, Ravula, who represented Fiji at the world under-20 championship many years ago, is not someone you would want to encounter.
He has started most games on the bench this season but once summoned as a substitute he makes things happen.
He claimed two tries against Wakatipu a few weeks back, powering across from close quarter. But his first try this time was the equivalent of a winger scoring from his own half.
Ravula stampeded 30m to the goalposts, an awesome spectacle, scoring the try that instantly demolished any hopes Cromwell had of a comeback victory, extending Arrowtown’s lead to 33-15.
Extraordinarily, Central Otago’s leading tryscorers after five rounds are Ravula, Upper Clutha prop Ben McKeich and Wakatipu utility back Connor Hamlin, all with four, followed by Ben Carr (Arrowtown) and Jackson Clark (Cromwell), both props, with three.
Arrowtown captain Malcolm Sutherland was immensely satisfied with his team’s performance, lineouts excluded, where his team made countless errors.
"We owed Cromwell one, given the results in recent seasons", he said.
"We put some really good tries together. Given that we won only three matches last season, that was a most satisfying victory."
Cromwell were but a shadow of the team that dominated the Central competition three and four seasons back. There were many unforced errors.
Captain Stefan Blakeborough admitted his team could not afford to make so many mistakes.
Arrowtown’s next contest is a White Horse Trophy challenge against Upper Clutha at Wanaka on Thursday night (with this week’s matches being staged on Thursday and Friday to avoid a clash with duck-shooting on Saturday).
Wakatipu and Alexandra cemented themselves in second and third positions with clear-cut victories against Matakanui Combined and Maniototo, respectively. Wakatipu won 40-12 and Alexandra 43-19.
Maniototo were coming off standout performances against Upper Clutha and Cromwell, but fired few shots at Molyneux Park.
Alexandra, who scored six tries, led 21-0 at halftime and 40-7 before Maniototo managed a consolation try.
Alexandra take on Cromwell at Cromwell on Thursday night while Maniototo host Matakanui Combined at Ranfurly on Friday afternoon.
Wakatipu also scored six tries at Omakau, racing to a 33-7 lead by halftime before the home side made something of a comeback in the second half.
— Bob Howitt
