Harlies knock out Uni

 By JOHN PANGKATANA

A COMMITTED Harlequins outfit knocked out the University Piggies 18-10 in the Capital Rugby Union (CRU) premier grade preliminary final at Monier Park on Saturday.

The reigning champions defend their premiership against Defence in the grand final on Saturday.

In the lower grades finals, University will play Defence after breaking Valley Hunters’ dream run in the A grade; Wanderers play Piggies in the B grade and Harlequins take on Hunters in the under-19 decider.

In the premier grade, Harlies opened the Piggies easily when winger Oswald Gela cruised over for a soft try and centre Rolland Namo landed a penalty for an 8-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Piggies came back through winger Jimmy Pahia, but were not able to deny slippery winger Isaac Aquilla from slicing through some poor defence down the left flank and extend their lead to 15-5 by half-time. Despite Uni being camped on the Harlequins line on several occasions, they could not break the inspired defence of the 2013 champions.

The Piggies finally broke through through hooker Wesley Thomas, after good lead-up work through the forwards for their second try.

Despite some heated moments between the players, Harlies rallied well to put the match beyond doubt when five-eighth Jonah Kautu Junior snapped a drop goal to push his side out to more than a converted try lead 18-10.

Uni made several half breaks but could not produce a match-winning play. Harlies were well served in the forwards through hooker Freddy Andale, flanker Monty Diave, lock Gabriel Biyama and centre Tisa Kautu in the backs.