Snow Canyon retained the Ra Puriri Cup this weekend, winning their annual rivalry game with United 13-10.

The game is named for Ra Puriri, the father of United Coach Colin Puriri and Snow Canyon Coach Michael Puriri. 

In an intense match between two strong teams and played on ANZAC Day, both teams had to deal with rain, cold, and mud, as well as a 25-minute delay for lightning at halftime.

In the game, Snow Canyon’s Sam Slivers scored the only try of the first half for a 5-0 Snow Canyon lead. United thought they had tied it up, but the ref ruled no try. 

Snow extended their lead with a try from hooker Joe Servatti to make it 10-0. United replied a few minutes later with a try from center Ben Webber. Slivers added a crucial penalty goal to put his side up by more than one score 13-5. United kept coming, and Darien Power went over in injury time. That made it 13-10, but there wasn’t enough time for United to mount another attack.

“You never know what you’re going to get in a rivalry game, and it was a huge battle,” said Snow Canyon’s Jay Day. “It was intense all the way to the final whistle.  Full credit to United, they were an excellent opponent.”

“It seems to be our pattern this year, losing the close ones,” lamented United’s Colin Puriri. “The three games we've lost have been by a total of 6 points. We had multiple opportunities; we can't squander opportunities, especially inside their red zone. Considering they've been averaging 75 points a game, we had a good defensive game. We had a definite advantage with territory and position, but just couldn't finish, which has been a problem all season for us.”