PREMIER
Woodlands 12 – Blues 22
Motivated Blues were the victors over Woodlands on Saturday. Woodlands kicked off and Blues immediately broke the first tackle. Unfortunately, this was a sign of things to come. Greater urgency on defence and attack allowed Blues to get on the front foot and find field position. Lewis and Jackson Ormond along with Jarel Hemehema looked dangerous out wide but Blues successfully shut down any threatening attacks. Blues went into halftime with a 15 – 0 lead. Another quick try after the break extended the lead to 22 – 0. While Woodlands occasionally gained parity up front, errors and poor option utilisation meant they found it difficult to breach the gain line. A penalty and the lineout result enabled Dan Cavanagh another opportunity to sneak on to the back of a drive and steal a try from the frustrated forwards. With around 10 minutes remaining, a ball passed to ground 60m out gave Jarel Hemehema the opportunity to put his foot down, racing through a gap in the Blues defence and beating the fullback to score. An unsuccessful conversion brought the score to 22 – 12. Woodlands sniffed an opportunity however, Blues rallied in the final minutes and showed composure shutting the game down to secure the win. Individuals had positive moments during the game, but it will take a much-improved team effort if Woodlands are to be any chance in a short turn around against Marist on Wednesday.
Marist 22 – ENC Barbarians 24
Kelvin Hotel Marist Premier took on the Eastern Northern Barbarians at Wyndham, the game was a good chance for players to play at a venue most had never been too. Marist started the game lethargically, making unforced errors and missing tackles as the country side applied a lot of early pressure. The Babas scored first after some strong forward play close to the line. Marist then came to life and after a period hammering the Barbarians line which was rewarded by left winger Alatini Vaihu continuing his recent try scoring heroics, finishing off a nice scrum move to score in the corner which was converted to make the score 7 all. Marist had the better of the scrum area in the first half and gained a scrum penalty which resulted in three points to Scott Eade right on the stroke of halftime. The second half saw Marist again put themselves under pressure with handling errors and missed tackles and the Barbarians crossed to make the score 14-10. Marist were quick to strike back however after Keanu Kahukura broke the line and found Ben Nally for the try, making the score 15-14. The home side added a penalty before Marist lock Ben Fotheringham, who was playing in the number six jersey, scored one of the best tries of the season running 40+ metres and running over half a dozen defenders on his way to the try line. The conversion made the score 22-17 to Marist with eight minutes remaining. Ill-discipline cost Marist in the last five minutes, several penalties meant the Barbarians were able to make their way toward the Marist line. Some brave defence kept the Babas out for over three minutes into injury time, but the pressure was too much and the Babas crossed under the posts to snatch the win 24-22. Man of the match for Marist was Bryce Morgan.
Pirates Old-Boys 35 – Star 14
DIVISION ONE
Wyndham 37 – Mossburn Pirates 13
Mossburn went down to Wyndham 37-13 on Saturday. Wyndham led 13-8 at half time. Mossburn looked in contention in the first half but as the game went on Wyndham lifted the intensity and speed of the game and finished too strong for Mossburn. Grayson Hamilton had another strong game in the loose for Mossburn and Matt Little who came out of retirement (for one game only!) to help fill the reserve bench got the player of the day award.
Midlands 72 – Waiau Star 0
Riversdale 21- Waikaka 46
Te Anau 13 – Edendale 28
DIVISION TWO
Blues 33 B – Woodlands B 20
On a brisk afternoon Woodlands travelled to town to face a Blues B team that had been tracking well. Blues scored first, but the visitors wasted no time in taking the game to Blues with their large forwards carrying strongly and using good width. They outflanked Blues on a couple of occasions to take the early lead and took control of the first half. Blues replied with some attack of their own towards the end of the half but couldn’t cross the line. Woodlands led at the half and had the wind at their backs for the second spell. A different attitude took over the Blues side in the second half and they began to hold the ball for long periods. Blues used width in their attack and some straight hard running from Vili Kaufononga and Tex Johnstone gave them the edge to expose Woodlands defence that appeared to tire. The injection of wily veteran and club stalwart Daniel Townson saw Blues take control and take the lead. A late try by Woodlands from a quick tap and a show of speed from the fullback wasn’t enough as Blues scored last to take the win 33-20. The show down between the two unbeaten teams of Blues B and Star B on Thursday night at Les George Oval is shaping up to be a game for the ages.
Wakatipu Wanderers 40 – Marist B 19
Pirates Old-Boys B – 10 Star B 24
DLS 54 – Waikiwi 0
Pioneer 26 – Riverton 19
Albion Excelsior 43 – Tokanui 20
DIVISION THREE
Otautau 34 – Balfour-Lumsden 6
Otautau were made to work hard for their win against a very committed Balfour-Lumsden side. Otautau led by just eight points early into the second half after missing numerous scoring opportunities. Otautau was able to bring on some key players in the form of Ryan Sharp, Ben Collins and Todd McDonald who along with player of the day Ben (Janice) DeClifford, turned the momentum of the game in favour of the visitors scoring some great team tries in the process . Other standouts for Otautau were Lyndon Bekhuis and Stu Kent along with flankers Jordan Cook and Cho Herewini.
In a hard fought reasonably even game Otautau did not have it all their own way as the final score of 34-6 would suggest. Balfour-Lumsden competed well for long periods but just couldn’t get points on the board. Despite this the home side were only down 7-3 at halftime. Balfour-Lumsden was right in the game but then Otautau managed to take control towards the end. Player of the day for Balfour-Lumsden was Clay Taylor who was into everything as was Will Hellewell, Chris Ponga and Shuan Orchard. A well-earned bye week off for duck shooting will be enjoyed by all.
Mataura 31 – Bush Pirates 10
Bluff 27 – Ohai Nightcaps 19
Collegiate – BYE
WOMEN’S 10’s
Blues
Leg three of the Southland Women’s 10’s saw the teams playing at altitude at the picturesque Wakatipu Rugby Club. Blues kicked off proceedings against Marist who once again proved a handful up front maintaining possession for long periods during the opening stanza. Blues weathered the storm through resolute defence with sisters Kate and Nikki Brown at the forefront. The forwards were rewarded through a try to the hardworking Amy Rule, while the backs completed the scoring with tries to potent outsides Erica Stevens, Grace Earland and Sian Lewis to come away with a well-deserved win. Wakatipu with a win under their belt, and on home turf, came out firing and were first to register points in Blue’s second game. Blues responded quickly with tries to Hailey Laverty, Katy Bryan, Rachel Rule, and outsides Stevens and Earland to secure their second win of the afternoon. A quick turnaround saw Blues up against Woodlands in their final game of the afternoon, a few injuries meant Blues had to dig deep but took the honours with a couple of well taken tries. Katy Bryan combined with Laura Buckingham to score and Kirsty Thwaites capping off another solid game with an individual run from midfield. Blues will head home to Balmoral Drive next Sunday where they will host the final leg of the competition, so once the ducks are plucked be sure to get down from 1pm to support the teams and watch some quality footy.
Marist
This week Marist’s goal was to build on last week’s results. With the majority of our experienced players unavailable it was the opportunity for four debutants to take the field. Marist suffered their only loss against Blues first up. The Marist ladies improved after this with a win against Woodlands and a draw against a speedy Wakatipu side to finish off the round. The team is battered and bruised but still smiling and looking forward to next weekend at Blues. Standout players for Marist were Utuao Peseta, Katherine MacDonald, Simone Caughey and Teilah Templeton.
Blues 46 – Marist 7
Wakatipu 22 – Woodlands 7
Marist 22 – Woodlands 19
Blues 27 – Wakatipu 7
Blues 40 – Woodlands 7
Marist 17 – Wakatipu 17