Rugby Southland Club Rugby Wrap Up

PREMIER

Blues 24 – Pirates 14

It was another Southland tropical Saturday as the conditions were a fine advert for rugby however, the rugby enthusiasts were out in numbers and set for a no holds barred battle between Elles Road New World Blues and POB. The first 30 minutes played out as predicted with both teams showing no mercy with some brutal contact trying to gain dominance. Penalties were traded from both sides and the score remained at 3-3 for the first period of the game. From the 31st minute POB pressured Blues and were rewarded with 2 shots at goal which Greg Dyer converted. As the half time whistle blew and POB had the lead, only the rugby purist could decipher the highlights of the first 40. For those who could still feel their hands and feet, the teams took to the field for another 40 minutes of punishing footy. The half time chat from the Blues management must have hit home as Elles Road New World Blues for the first 25 minutes of the 2nd half hung onto the ball and set up camp in the POB half. Backs Taylor Barrett and Mitch Taylor kept the big Blues forward pack rumbling in the right direction and through well worked play gave Jay Navu Naqianivalu and Ethan De Groot opportunities to crash over for 2 well deserved meat pies. A penalty came for Blues after another series of forward play which Mitch Taylor slotted making it 18 – 9. Pirates then decided to pick a up the energy levels and dealt Blues some of their own punishment with a 10-minute period of play hammering the Blues line. After several penalties and a yellow card to Sam Winsloe after a team warning, POB crashed over for a 5 pointer and with 4 minutes on the clock it was game on! It was Blues who lifted for the last 4 minutes and a smart read on play lead Jaya More to charge down a clearing kick to regather and swan dive under the post to seal the game for Blues. Fulltime 25 – 14. Ethan De Groot earned himself MVP as he continues his run of dominance.

Barbarians 6 – Woodlands 13

Woodlands stumbled to another unconvincing win in Gore on Friday night. Due to illness and weather conditions, Woodlands had struggled for any resemblance of a training the week leading in and it showed against a committed Barbarians side. Conditions both overhead and underfoot were excellent for football but both sides battled to string long phases together. Discipline was Woodlands downfall in the first half, the difference at halftime being two Caleb Young penalty goals. Tauasosi Tuamavave was injected early into the Woodlands backline in the second half and made immediate impact.He dived over from a ruck out wide to put Woodlands in front for the first time. Tuamavave has just returned from a six months rugby stint in Italy, he is due to have minor surgery this week which will lead to him missing the next 4-6 weeks of club rugby. Woodlands managed another nice passage of play late in the game which saw Aleki Morris score handy to the uprights, but unfortunately Toka Sopoaga was unable to convert. Some miscommunication with the match official led to some panic in the final moments when the ball was cleared to touch, only to find time still on the clock. The Barbarians went on the attack but a handling error brought the game to a close. Presley Tufuga had another strong game for Woodlands and was well supported by his skipper Andrew Mackintosh.

Marist WBD – Star LBD

DIVISION ONE

Midlands 3 – Waikaka 12

The game was played in very cold and wet conditions in Winton but with both teams having had a good run of form in recent weeks it was always going to be a tussle who could continue that form. Conditions dictated that the game was played in close and Waikaka dominated in this area from the beginning of the match. The Waikaka forwards carried the ball strong and when on defence, tackled with aggression stumping struggling Midlands to make any gains. Midlands were able to create only a couple of opportunities in the game but poor execution in trying conditions only continued to build pressure on the home side. After halftime Midlands played most of the game in their own half and when trying to exit they were put under pressure which gave Waikaka easy ball to return deep or play into Midlands territory and build further momentum. A late penalty on full time took any chances away for a bonus point for Midlands. Waikaka deserved the win and were the better performing team on the day. Dylan Bungard controlled his team well from halfback and Willie Hewitson was very good at stealing a lot of Midlands lineout ball. Bineati Teriuea had a high workload on defence for Midlands.

Te Anau 5 – Riversdale

Waiau 16 – Mossburn 33

Edendale 8 – Wyndham 14

DIVISION TWO A

Pioneer 13 – Waikiwi 8

It was always going to be hard to get good phases together to get momentum going and it showed with both teams making errors which was understandable given the conditions. It was a bit of to and from, penalty after penalty and both teams exchanged a kick at goal and were both successful in their attempts. The score was 3-3 and that’s the way it remained until halftime.

Second half and the weather didn’t hold up if anything it got worse. Waikiwi scored a try against the run of play and had their tails up for most of the 2nd 40. They turned the ball over and spread it wide and managed to toe the ball 60 metres to score in the corner. 8-3 down the lads started to put more pressure on and got their pick and go working but were letting themselves down with some handling errors. When the handling errors were eradicated, some good go forward ball was produced and saw metres gained which managed to secure us our first try for the day with Troy Wyatt, welcomed back from injury, able to barge his way over to bring the scores level. With not that much time left on the clock and the scores level, it was going to take a moment of magic from either side to break the deadlock and effectively win the game. With a defensive scrum on our own 22, our wily halfback Andrew Kirk managed to grab the turnover and shoot he ball wide to another veteran within the team Spaghetti Legs Kent MacKenzie and he used his soccer skills to dribble 30 metres and to regather the ball to set up a ruck where youngster Nic Michaels got the ball and stretched out his legs to go over untouched and take the victory for the red and whites.

Tokanui 9 – Riverton 5

DLS 0 – Albion 14

DIVISION TWO B

Blues B’s – Pirates B’s

You wouldn’t blame the boys if they packed their swimming togs instead of their rugby kit on what was a dismal day for footy at Blues on Saturday. Nevertheless, both teams turned up to play for the rematch of a close game played in similar conditions in the previous round. Blues got off to a good start with a try in the corner to powerful winger Fili Hufanga. Jason Bishop completed his best Johnny Wilkinson impression to kick the conversion from the side-line. Territory was key in the wet weather and Blues used it in the first half with a further 3 tries, and POB also dotted down after some sustained pressure in the Blues 22. It was 24 – 5 at oranges and after the boys had a milo to warm up they were back into what was a mainly one sided second half. POB had the lion’s share of possession and territory, but the Blues boys showed a lot of ticker to hold them off. Finally, a meat pie at closing time for the hard-working Connor Morrison, one of Blues standout performers along with number 7 Tim Eade.

Marist B’s – Star B’s

AWS Legal Marist Development took on a tough Star team in what was another wet, cold Saturday for footy at Miller Street. Marist had the wind at their back in the first half and managed to apply plenty of pressure. Firstmiwka five Conor Rodden got Marist on the board with a penalty to make it three nil. Marist then put together probably their best passage of the play all season, stringing together multiple phases and scoring a well worked try. They managed to score another two tries in the first half to take the score out to 22-0. Star managed to score just before halftime to make it 22-7. Playing with the wind behind them in the second half Star quickly rallied and turned the momentum of the game upside down. They crossed for two quick tries to make it 22-19 and were unlucky to not take the lead if not for some heroic Marist defence on their own line. Marist managed to get their way down the field and score under the posts to make it 29-19. Kaydis Hona had the final say for Marist when he finished off a great individual run down the left hand touchline to take the score out to 36-19. Player of the day for Marist was Hona who carried strongly and made some big tackles. In the backs the inside pairing of Jacob Carmichael and Conor Rodden combined well to put Marist in the right part of the field.

Wakatipu 32 – Woodlands 29

After a hard week of no training for the Wakatipu lads and a change of venue the wanderers got off to a good start. Crossing the line in the opening 3 minutes and a penalty shortly after to go out to a 10 point lead after 10 minuets on the clock. Woodlands came back with two tries of there own before Veteran prop Jeremy Drake crashed over just before half time to give the home team a 17-10 lead at the half. Wakatipu was first to slash just after half time of a well works line out drive to extend there lead. But woodlands weren’t going away, they gave it there all right down to the 80th minute. Wakatipu held on to take the win. Wakatipu’s Howard Stock and Patrick Mackey had strong games for the home team.

DIVISION THREE

Balfour 20 – Ohai Nightcaps 7

Balfour/Lumsden travelled to Nightcaps with the intention of spoiling their club day but the no show of the referee had a far bigger impact. Luckily Ohai/Nightcaps player Roger Eade stepped up and offered his services and made an excellent job of refereeing and kept the game flowing. Ohai/Nightcaps started the game better and took the lead with a converted try after 6 minutes which was to be their lot for the day as Balfour/Lumsden then took control with 2 unconverted tries to props Clay Taylor and Stew Gilkison had them ahead 10 – 7 at the break. The second half saw Balfour/Lumsden pin Ohai/Nightcaps in their own half and a penalty to Connor McDonald and converted Joe Moir try completed the scoring with the match finishing 20 – 7. All of the Balfour/Lumsden players toiled impressively but none more so than man of the match Chris Ponga closely followed by Connor McDonald, Robert Smith and Luke Peoples. With many injuries to both sides on this awful cold wet day both sides will welcome the week off over Queens Birthday.

Otautau 13 – Central Pirates 0

In atrocious conditions at Central Pirates, Otautau were made to dig deep to put away a courageous Bush pirates team 13 – 0. In what was essentially an upfront arm wrestle, it took the visitors until the last play to crash over for the games only try. For Otautau Matty Brame played well and nailed key penalties which proved vital in the end and wingers Aaron Guise and Ashton Drake both added some nice touches when play came their way.

Bluff WBD – Collegiate LBD

Mataura – BYE

UNDER 18

Gore started well with 3 quick tries playing into a slight breeze on a dry pitch but Southland Boys development regrouped and had a competitive 2nd quarter. Gore’s defence was pushed at times but SBH were unable to cross Gore’s line. Half time score was 34 – 0 to Gore. The wind became stronger as the game went on and so SBH were playing into quite a strong wind by the 3rd quarter making their job more difficult but they kept working hard going close to scoring numerous times. Gore defenders however were detirmined and while the Gore team scored another 5 tries they also kept SBH scoreless. Stand out players for Gore were Harrison Morton who picked up the Player of the day award for the 3rd time in 4 games at lock with powerful runs linking with team mates, Jakob Harrex with another typical hard running game at No. 8 and Rylee Stewart at fullback. Next game in the new draw is at home against St Peters.

Article added: Monday, 28 May 2018