AshHutt girls’ rugby coach Grant Elvines had just one word to sum up his side’s latest loss in the Aoraki secondary schools girls’ rugby competition, and that was frustration.

It was the most appropriate word to sum up his side’s 49-24 loss to Timaru Girls’ High School (TGHS) at Celtic on Wednesday evening, Elvines said.

TGHS came to town as the competition’s top-of-the-table side, and they showed why they are where they are, pouncing every time the AshHutt girls made a mistake and scoring.

The combination Ashburton College and Mount Hutt College side simply gave away too much ball, and every time they did it cost them both when it came to focus, and points on the board.

Elvines said that in defence AshHutt produced a number of periods of play where he thought they might have been able to produce a comeback, but TGHS were quick to snuff out any opportunities that AshHutt might have created.

“The forwards ran with a lot of endeavour and the backs threw it about a bit, but we were guilty of too many basic errors, and of missing far too many tackles,” Elvines said.

But, the AshHutt girls did manage to put together four pretty good tries to Emma Rollinson, Tara Mellish, and two to Madison Trusler-Clark.

“Ultimately though, we got outplayed, and the final score of 49-24 was a fair indication of the game,” Elvines said.

The girls’ competition will now be taking a break for two weeks for the school holidays.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 6 July 2019

When it returns on July 24 AshHutt will be off to Timaru for a clash with Waitaki Girls’ High School, the team currently bottom of the table without a win to their names.

Meanwhile, that’s the position the Mid Canterbury Combined boys’ first XV find themselves in today, still bottom of the table in the Crusaders region secondary schools’ rugby competition, the UC Championship.

They are heading off to Christchurch today looking to change that, but their opposition this week – Shirley Boys’ High School – are likely to pose another tough challenge.

The Shirley boys are currently sitting in 10th spot on the table with three wins from their nine games.

The UC Championship will also take a break over the holidays, and return on July 27 when Mid Canterbury Combined will again be on the road, this time to Rangiora High School, a team sixth on the table heading into this round.