New Zealand (represented by Northland's Whau Valley Primary School) triumphed over Wales this week with a decisive 50-20 victory in an exciting Rippa World Cup Final. The Tournament brought together 20 primary school Rugby teams from around New Zealand, with each school representing one of the nations playing in Rugby World Cup 2011.
Held at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, a match venue for RWC 2011, the Rippa World Cup showcased some exciting competition amongst future Rugby stars. The final day began with quarter-final match ups between local favourites Fiji (aka Counties Manukau’s Roscommon Primary) who fell to Australia (Bay of Plenty’s Maungatapu Primary School) in extra time. While Wales (Arrowtown Primary School in Otago), knocked out the Russians (represented by Silverstream School in Wellington), 40-30.
Romania (Riverdale Primary School from Manawatu), took out a physical Tongan team (Waikato‟s Fairfield Primary School) 15-5 in another quarter-final match up, while New Zealand, got past Argentina (Taranaki’s Lepperton Primary) 40-25 to book themselves their semi-final spot.
New Zealand went on to secure a place in the Final with a semi-final win over traditional rivals Australia and Wales dominated the Romanians in their semi-final ending strong run from the Eastern European team.
New Zealand captain Rivez Reihana, aged 11, starred for his side with outstanding defence and pace on attack that saw him run in five tries in the Final. Following the Final, Reihana described the win as awesome.
“Our attack was great and we scored heaps of tries. I think our team all played really well together and I can’t wait to take the trophy home,” he said.
Wales Coach Paul Winder said he was proud of his team’s achievements in the Tournament.
“We were over the moon to make it to the quarters this morning and to get all the way to the Final was just great. The kids have had an awesome time at the Tournament and should all be very proud of themselves.”
Rippa Rugby is a non-contact version of Rugby designed especially for primary-school aged children. Rather than tackling each other players must rip the flag from the belt of the ball carrier. Rippa Rugby promotes ball handling and running skills and gives kids a chance to play safely from a very early age. Each Rippa World Cup team has 10 players, five boys and five girls.
For more information on Rippa Rugby, please visit www.smallblacks.com.
News Collect: http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/news/newsid=2044706.html
