Marist Hawaii & Titans Rugby to Meet for First Place in Hawaii Rugby Union

April 10, 2017

Marist Hawaii & Titans Rugby to Meet for First Place in Hawaii Rugby Union

Doug Coil

A special thanks goes to Tapukitea Chontal Tupou for sharing the April 8th Hawaii Rugby Union results.

In the Men’s matches, the Titans Rugby Club secured a chance to meet Marist Rugby Club for first place next week after the Timberwolves forfeited their match. Marist then continued their unbeaten league season with a 49-0 win over the Hawaii Harlequins. In the final match of the day, the Kalihi Raiders beat the West Oahu Rugby Club Leatherbacks 78-5 to secure a place in the in the playoffs on April 22.

In the Marist Hawaii match against the Harlequins, nine tries were scored. Sonny Naiuli had a hat trick, Lelauloto Tagaloa and Pono Haitsuka each had two tries, while Viliami Koniseti and Malakai Vaka had one. Setu Lepou added two conversions.

Pono Haitsuka previously played for the USA Men’s Sevens team, the San Diego Breakers, OMBAC Rugby and Mystic River Rugby Club. He also played for the Southern California Griffins and the Northeast Academy.

With the Hawaii Harlequins losing to Marist Hawaii, the Kalihi Raiders win against the Leatherbacks secured a place in the playoffs. The Raiders scored twelve tries in their winning effort. Saimone Sakisi, Apelu So’oalo and Vaoloa Tauinaola each had two, while Paulo Faualo, Enele Scanlan, Brett Makihele, Selu Mafi, Atama Vakalalabure and Alek Escobedo had one. Apelu So’oalo converted nine times. The Leatherbacks Nick Barbour had their lone try.

The Hawaii Rugby Union concludes their season on April 15 with makeup games between Marist and the Titans with first place on the line. The Raiders and Timberwolves are currently tied for third place in the standings. Third place will also be finalized next Saturday as the Raiders play the Harlequins and the Timberwolves play the Leatherbacks.

Upon the conclusion of the League regular season, the top four teams will meet in the playoffs on April 22 in the semi-finals with the winning teams playing of the Championship on April 29, while the losers play for third.

At stake next week are the final regular season standings, as Marist, Titans, Timberwolves and the Raiders have secured playoffs spots.

The Hawaii Rugby Union Women’s Championship was held on April 8th with the Lady Raiders winning 19-14 over the Lady Quins in extra time. For a recap click here.

Youth Rugby is also an important part of growing rugby in Hawaii. There are high school and youth boys and girls women teams in Oahu, Maui, and in the Big Island.

Hawaii Rugby Union Schedule