Rugby Southland Club Rugby Wrap Up

Premier

Marist 32 – Star 17

It was another pristine day at Miller Street yesterday when both senior Marist sides took to the field.

Kelvin Hotel Marist hosted Star in what could have been potentially a tricky game. Star were already out of semi-final contention and with nothing to lose they were a dangerous beast. Marist started extremely well with two tries within the opening six minutes to Bryce Morgan and Scott Eade to take the score to 12 nil. Star were not going to roll over though and bounced back via the impressive Manaaki Selby-Rickit.

Marist extended the lead to 19-5 before Star hit back in quick succession to trail by just two points. After halftime Marist scored two nice tries to take a 29-17 lead midway through the second half. A further penalty took the score out to 32-17 and that is where it stayed. The bonus point win gives Marist a one-point lead over Woodlands in the competition standings with just one round remaining. Player of the day for Marist was Simon Dowling who got through a lot of work in the second row. Prop Shaun Stodart was equally outstanding up front and laid the platform for the Marist backline to operate.

Marist will make the trek out to Gore next Saturday to take on a fired up Eastern Northern Barbarians side who need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Woodlands 16 – Barbarians 14

Blues 22 – Pirates Old Boys 11

Division One

Wyndham 20 – Waikaka 7

Riversdale 15 – Edendale 17

Midlands 30 – Mossburn 0

Waiau 10 – Te Anau 22

Division 2a

Star B 5 – Blues B 32

Another top of the table clash between Chemdry Southland Blues and Star kicked off under the glorious Southland sun on Saturday afternoon. Blues went on the attack from the first whistle and held onto ball making metres through the team’s powerful pack. Slick hands from the backs caused the Star defence to crack. Blues scored through number 8 Josh Brown. Over the next 25 minutes Blues continued to put on a clinical performance and score another 3 times to bring up a bonus point early in the game and went into half time 22-0. In the second half Star had an opportunity to attack the Blues side but the defence from Blues was nothing short of brutal and everything Star attempted with ball in hand was meet with a Blue resistance. Blues then got hands on the ball and with a nice blindside move through Josh Brown, Ben Muir and Matt Kane resulted in a try to the ever-present Richard Little. Star did score a try late in the game but it was Blues who were dominant throughout. Fulltime 32 – 5. With only 2 round robin games remaining both teams will now be looking for good performances for the run to the semi-finals.

Waikiwi 0 – Pioneer 57

This weekend saw Pioneer take on Waikiwi for the 3rd time this year and if the last game between the two sides was anything to go by it was going to be a tough game. The Pioneer boys went about making a statement right from the get go with the ball being gathered from the kick-off and made steady ground up field with Troy Wyatt crashing over for his 9th try of the year within the first minute. Nic Michaels found himself in the naughty boys’ chair after 5 minutes, but this made the boys fire more and managed to score one of the tries of the season. A turnover on our line and instead of pumping the ball into touch, it was decided to be run out and a full field effort that went through all the backs hands and with a simple draw and pass at the end saw Jodran Cudd-Anderson go under to keep even with Troy’s try scoring tally. Callum Jack converted both tries and the score was 14-0 after 8 minutes. Shortly after, Andrew Kirk grabbed his first of the afternoon to stretch the score out to 21 zip with 14 men. Blair Falconer got on the scoresheet after some strong running from Matt Collins breaking tackles at will and able to offload to supporting runners who had the easy task of running to the line. Kirky got his 2nd try and Tane Holland dotted down in the corner on the back of dominating play from all 15 men on the paddock. This made the score 36-0 but that changed within seconds as the ball was gathered from the kick-off and with some quick thinking from our forwards and good hands, the pill was spread wide and Jordan was able to break through and make it 43-0 at halftime.

Nothing more could be said but to keep doing what you’re doing. Waikiwi put in a stellar defensive effort in the second period but our strong ball runner, Carpet, made a mockery of them often and he was rewarded with a try in the corner. A lot of to and fro and tired bodies meant disruptions to the game but that didn’t stop Kirky snaring his 3rd for a well-deserved hat trick for the day. We cleared the subs bench, but unfortunately for Waikiwi they’d run out of subs and had 2 guys on the deck and by mutual agreement, the game was brought to a premature end.

Good win to keep the ball rolling into next week where we have old foes Albion at home 3pm. See you all there.

Albion Excelsior 16 – Wakatipu 26

Division 2b

DLS 61 – Pirates Old Boys 18

In a stop start game at Limehills DLS were comfortable winners over Pirates Old Boys 61 -18

Marist B 22 – Riverton 26

Woodlands 32 – Tokanui 19

Division 3

Collegiate 17 – Ohai Nightcaps 29

Collegiate hosted Ohai/Nightcaps in perfect conditions looking to show improvement and playing for pride after a few tough weeks results wise. With Southland league finishing last week, Collegiate had numbers to call on, benefiting from the strong relationship they continue to grow with the cowboys league team. It was a welcome change from playing with 13 or 14 to having a full bench. Tama and Liam Ladbrook had strong games, as did Dylan Lovett, in a man of the match performance really inspired the young collegiate team. Looking like running the opposition down in the latter parts of the game, Collegiate could have really done without the yellow card and may have reeled them in if that had gone differently. Every point was earned from both teams with Ohai Nightcaps emerging the winners on the day.

Mataura 24 – Otautau 0

Previously unbeatable Otautau were given a timely reminder that the Division three competition is far from over heading into the last couple of rounds before finals footy. Home side Mataura made a statement and deserved their 24-0 win over Otautau who, despite missing a couple of key players could offer no excuses and were outplayed by a better side on the day. Otautau’s best on a tough day were Ryan Sharp and Matthew Brame.

Central Bush Pirates 0 – Bluff 77

Balfour/Lumsden – BYE

Under 18

Lazer Electrical Gore 1st XV travelled to Invercargill for what turned out to be tough game against an improving James Hargest and although the score line suggests an easy win it was anything but. The Hargest team applied pressure in defence and were able to turn Gore around and force mistakes on one of those days where open space was limited. Injuries upset the flow of both teams and whilst Gore scored 8 tries Hargest were rewarded with a good one of their own with the final score in Gore’s favour 48-7. Stand out players for Gore were No. 7 Hayden Michaels with a try and good work on defence and turn-overs, Anton Musalov in the mid-field with a couple of tries and a number of line breaks and George Johnston at loose head who scrummed hard and was effective around the paddock.

Source: Rugby Southland