Rugby Southland Club Rugby Wrap Up

Premier

Barbarians 12 – Marist 9

A fine but cool windy day and damp underfoot conditions meant for another Marist – Barbarians classic arm wrestle at the Gore Showgrounds on Saturday.

The Barbarians started the better of the teams and asked plenty of questions early which resulted in a try to hit the lead 5 nil. Marist playing into a stiff breeze plugged away though and dominated the last 20 minutes of the first half asking many questions of the combined country team who as they always do, fronted up and made a large number of tackles. Marist were rewarded for their perseverance with two penalties and headed to halftime up 6-5.

Marist camped in the Barbarians half for the first part of the second half and added another three points making it 9-5.

The Barbarians managed to get down the right end finally and didn’t miss the opportunity when James Matheson crashed over in the corner and converted his own try from wide-out to take a 12-9 lead. Marist spent the last few minutes of the match looking for the match winning fiver pointer but came up short and the Barbarians held strong for a 12-9 victory.

Player of the day for Marist was Ben Nally. Marist will take on Blues in what will be an exciting semi-final this Saturday.

Woodlands 38 – Blues 24

Star 22 – Pirates Old Boys 39

Division One

Riversdale 10 – Wyndham 20

Te Anau 41 – Midlands 24

Edendale 53 – Mossburn 17

Waikaka 55 – Waiau 0

Division Two A

Blues B’s 48 – Waikiwi 19

Chemdry Southland Blues Bs and Waikiwi met for the first time this season and both teams were up for a battle. Blues started the better of the 2 sides and were up early with a try through a dominant scrum just 5 out from the Waikiwi line. Waikiwi hit straight back with a try of their own and were clearly up for the challenge. Both teams went tit for tat for the first 40 minutes but it was Blues who went into half time with the lead 21 – 14. Waikiwi came out of the gates with a hiss and a roar in the second spell as the Henderson brothers gave Waikiwi the spark they needed. A try scored in the corner tightened the game up. 21-19. Chemdry Southland Blues then got into their work. Hard yards by Josh Borland, Tepene Clarke and Dean Willson meant that Blues were able to move forward and started to look dangerous. The ball was swiftly moved from halfback Shea Read who fed his backline and holes started to appear in the Waikiwi defence. Tries to Shea Read, Tepene Clarke, Shaun Alderdice, Richard Little and 2 tries to Cody Harris secured the win for Blues. 48-19. Dean Willson was the stand out for Blues as he worked tirelessly for the full 80 minutes and was rewarded with MVP.

Pioneer 25 – Albion Excelsior 20

Wakatipu – Star B’s – Postponed

Division Two B

Woodlands B’s WBD – Marist B’s LBD

Tokanui 53 – Pirates Old Boys 0

DLS 10 – Riverton 21

Division Three

Collegiate 19 – Balfour/Lumsden 66

Balfour/Lumsden travelled to the big smoke to take on Collegiate on a lovely day for rugby and scored their first try after 10 minutes to which Collegiate replied after 16 minutes locking up the scores at 7 apiece. 3 more tries to Balfour/Lumsden all converted followed by a try to Collegiate made the score 28-12 at halftime. Balfour/Lumsden took control in the second half scoring 5 more tries before Collegiate added another then Balfour/Lumsden completed the scoring with 1 last try. Man of the match Connor Mcdonald nailed 8 conversions along with a try for a personal haul of 21 points. Josh Taia,Stew Gilkison and Joe Moir scored 2 tries each and Cory Fowler, Chris Ponga and Bevan Roy scored a try each. Robert Smith, Josh Taia and Cory Fowler also had strong games. Collegiate never give up and defended well all the way shutting down some good Balfour/Lumsden breakouts. The season will come to an end next weekend after Bluff travels to Balfour.

Ohai Nightcaps 0 – Otautau 32

In pretty good conditions, a rejuvenated Otautau got back on track at Nightcaps with a tough fought win. Ohai Nightcaps had first use of a stiff breeze but couldn’t take full advantage and went into halftime 10-0 down. Otautau stayed focused and made good use of conditions in the second half to score some well taken tries. In what was a good battle, standouts for Otautau were the talented Cho Herewini, Matthew Brame and Joel Maguire. And although he didn’t get to showcase his kicking skills lock James Hall also had an outstanding game. Veteran duo Mike (warhorse) Morris and Matt Birch also added impact off the bench in a pleasing display ahead of finals rugby

Bluff 25 – Mataura 17

Under 18’s

Lazer Electrical Gore 1st XV started well against Woodlands with some early points on the board in the first 15 minutes at Gore. Gore chose to play into the wind to start the game and controlled the start well and were able to make some good runs through the middle. Lock Reece Soper was rewarded with a try after showing good support and Anton Musalov also dotted down in the first 15 minutes. Then Woodlands put on their own pressure they were rewarded with a converted try after 5 minutes of good work at the 25-minute mark. For the rest of the half Woodlands used the wind kicking for territory and Gore’s back 3 gathered up this ball and ran it back well and with follow up support play were able to score another 2 tries before half time. Gore turned with the wind in the 2nd half and went straight back on attack kicking for territory then applying pressure. Woodlands used their size in the midfield well both on attack and defence but were put under pressure by Anton at 2nd 5 who tested the defence whenever he had the ball, finishing the game with 2 tries and the player of the day. Another stand out for Gore was young prop Kingsford Hamilton who was strong in defence and contributed heaps to a good forward pack whilst Kane Collins at half back also registered in the player of the day points distributing well and picking up a try for the day’s work as well. Gore closed out the game with a good win 54-7 helped with a fine kicking display from Rylee Stewart and 7 conversions, some from wide out and a try. A few injuries over the last few weeks have put pressure on some of the younger squad members who have taken their chances, but school holidays have come at a good time.

Source: Rugby Southland