Valley Hunters beat Crusaders for third win

Sports

By PARKER TAMBUA
VALLEY Hunters recorded their third win of the season in the Capital Rugby Union premier division with a 28-8 win over Crusaders at Bava Park on Saturday.
Despite Crusaders’ impressive start which saw fullback Gerard Tabi scoring the opening try, they had no answers to the continuous onslaught by Hunters all game.
Hunters scored four unanswered tries through Tristan Maragau, Benson Haya and Ben Lasiel (double).
Crusaders were still in the game at halftime when they trailed 8-10. Hunters made some line-breaks that could have resulted with more tries in the first-half, but poor ball handling cost them.
Hunters dominated the second half with possession and good game management as they scored two tries to seal the game.
Outside centre Jonah Tokuing starred for Hunters as he made numerous line-breaks and set up two tries.
Coach Max Katal was impressed with Tokuing.
“Jonah was outstanding, he used his big frame and height to create a lot of opportunities for us,” he said.
“For a big guy like him to play with speed and power is good for us. “I am also happy with fullback Tristian Maragau, he played well.
“In the forwards, everyone played well and did their job as expected.”
But Katal said there was room for improvement for their next game.
“Our fitness level is not up to the standard that I expect,” he said.
“That is the problem that we need to work on, so we will be looking to train more to improve.
“We still haven’t played against some of the big-name teams in the competition, so the real test is yet to come.
“We need to improve our fitness.”