Rugby Southland Club Rugby Wrap Up

PREMIER

Blues 28 – Barbarians 19

Elles Road New World Blues left a wintery Invercargill and travelled to Gore to take on the Barbarians. Mother nature played her part as the sun was shining down on a firm Gore Showgrounds pitch. Elles Road New World Blues got off to a great start and applied pressure through their forwards with some illusive play which led to a try to halfback Sam Muir. Sione Kaufononga was next to score after good hands from Mitch Taylor and his back line. The Barbarians then hit back with a try of their own with some gritty forward play. Mitch Taylor kept the scoreboard ticking over for Blues with a couple of 3 pointers. Brandon Rodgers decided to show his pace and through a cheeky pick from the ruck ran 50 metres to score under the post. With halftime clocking in at 25 – 5 the second half was all the Barbarians. As Blues never really got their systems working, it really limited their options on attack and the Barbarians in comparison, relentless on attack saw them score 2 tries and get within reaching distance. However, a good attacking play from Blues resulted in a penalty which pushed the home side out and through strong defence from Blues, closing the game out for a well-deserved win. Brandon Rodgers was rewarded for his best game of the season game with MVP.

Marist 20 – Pirates 17

It was another heart stopper for Marist fans on Saturday after what was a hard fought 20-17 win over Pirates Old-Boys at Surrey Park. Playing with a strong, cold wind at their backs, Kelvin Hotel Marist started well pinning the home side in their own 22 often in the first half. Marist got on the board after a great counter attacking raid down the left-hand touch line was finished off in the corner to make it five-nil. More pressure led to a penalty goal to take the lead to eight-nil. That lead was extended to 15-nil minutes later when centre Will Murray ran a great line off a scrum move to score under the posts. Marist could well have pushed the lead beyond 20 points in the first half if it wasn’t for Pirates Old-Boys getting a hand to Marist passes on at least three occasions. The home side managed to cross shortly before halftime to make it 15-7. The second half saw Marist again start well and they were rewarded when winger Bryce Morgan put in a spectacular dive in the right-hand corner to make it 20-7. That was the last time Marist would get an attacking opportunity as Pirates Old-Boys started to get momentum and used the strong breeze to pin Marist in their own half. Marist’s errors and ill-discipline led to Pirates Old-Boys crossing for two tries to make it another tight finish. Pirates Old-Boys had a chance to level the scores with four minutes remaining with a penalty handy to the posts but were unable to convert. They spent the last minute of the game hammering the Marist line, however some outstanding Marist defence managed to keep the combined side out to take a very hard earned 20-17 win. Man of the match for Marist was Patelesio Oneone. Congratulations to Prop Joe Kafatolu who made his debut off the bench.

Woodlands 22 – Star 15

DIVISION ONE

Riversdale 36 – Waiau 7

Te Anau 11 – Wyndham 28

Edendale 17 – Midlands 36

Waikaka 17 – Mossburn 0

DIVISION TWO A

DLS 33 – Tokanui 5

Waikiwi 24 – Riverton 30

Albion Excelsior 28 – 24 Pioneer

DIVISION TWO B

Wakatipu 41 – Blues 42

Wakatipu wanderers hosted Chemdry Southland Blues at the picturesque Queenstown recreation ground. The home side got off to a flyer scoring 2 early tries and outflanking blues defence at will. Making all the play in the first half they scored 27 points by half time. Blues managed to claw back two tries before the break through good offloading and penetrating runs from midfielders Sam Hyde and Junior Talaifono. Wakatipu lead 27-14 at the break. Wakatipu scored first in the 2nd half to stretch their lead to 34 – 14. With 20 minutes to go, Blues began to slow the attack of Wakatipu and moved the ball to their midfielders who started to perform, and the comeback began. 3 converted tries and Blues took the lead with 4 mins to go 35 -34. Wakatipu had a penalty kick to take it back but it hit the post, they recovered and managed to cross the chalk and convert. With the score 41-35 to the Queenstown hosts and 1.5 min remaining Blues turned over a lineout and moved the ball wide to set Matt Kane free who drew the last defender to put Richard ‘Dags’ Little under the posts. The conversion sealed the win in what could be the spectacle of the Division 2 comp to date.

Marist 19 – Pirates 13

AWS Legal Marist Development also took home four points after a hard fought 19-13 win over Pirates Old-Boys B. With a couple of players unavailable Marist put out a young team sprinkled with the experience of the ageless Jordan Coutts and Stu Adam. The green and blacks took their chances when they were on offer and scored three good tries. Loose forward Hamish Kennelly was man of the match. Marist will look forward to being back at home next Saturday when both teams take on Star.

Woodlands 10 – Star 12

DIVISION THREE

Balfour/Lumsden 26 – Bluff 72

A depleted Balfour/Lumsden side travelled to an extremely windy and wet Bluff. With a gale force wind blowing down the ground running rugby was always going to be difficult but both teams handled the conditions well. Balfour/Lumsden led for half the first half after 2 well taken tries to Will Hellewell but trailed 14 -34 at the break after first use of the wind. After the break Balfour/Lumsden attacked for the first 15 minutes and was rewarded with a try to Matt Muir and kept at it to get their well-deserved bonus point try to Stew Gilkison but lack of fresh legs took their toll and a good Bluff side ran away with it 67-26. Man of the match Joe Moir had a fine game closely followed by Chris Ponga, Robert Smith and Stew Gilkison.

Collegiate 5 – Central Pirates 29

Ohai Nightcaps 15 – Mataura 17