Southern Rivals Clash in Wild Touch Rugby Conditions
Close to 400 players along with coaches and spectators from Southland and Otago braved a cold Invercargill day to go toe to toe at the annual Junior IPS tournament yesterday. Played at Turnbull Thompson Park, 10 Otago sides, as well as 25 Southland based teams from throughout the region, including Queenstown went head to head for provincial bragging rights.
Six matches were also livestreamed by Big Screen Advertising who made streaming the games possible. A strong contingent of referees from Southland and Otago again braved tough conditions to officiate fixtures throughout the day and did a great job.
For under-10 and under-11 Southland based teams from Invercargill and Queenstown it was a chance to see how far they had progressed since their first meeting’s two weeks ago in Winton. Queenstown took the honours in the under-10 boys with a 6-1 win over their Invercargill counterparts. It was tight in both under-11 grades with the girl’s teams sharing a three all draw, while Invercargill narrowly claimed the win over Queenstown 1-0 in the under-11 boys grade.
Otago took the honours in the under-12 boys’ and girls’ grades respectively with wins over their Invercargill and Queenstown based Southland opposition. In the under-12 mixed grade Gore narrowly edged Winton and then proceeded to defeat Otago which capped off another great tournament for the Eastern Southland based side. Winton under-12 mixed also showed huge improvements across the tournament and grabbed a draw against Otago.
For the Southland under-13 teams it was another chance to see how far they have progressed since the Southland internal tournament two weeks ago. The Invercargill under-13 girls side again showed some nice touches and produced three good wins. The Queenstown under-13 girls’ team was another team on the improve and had some good results over their three games. The under-13 boys squad fared well with a win, draw and loss respectively against a variety of opposition.
In the under-14 grades, Otago came away with narrow victories, however Southland’s under-14 contingent will take heart from the fact there was not much between themselves and their provincial neighbours.
One of the highlights of the day was the performance of the under-16 maroon boys’ team who saved their best for last, recording an emphatic 9-3 victory over their Otago under-16 boys’ counterparts. In the girls’ fixture it was Otago who claimed the bragging rights with a 5-4 win. Both Southland under-16 gold teams pushed Otago close and will take many learnings from Sunday’s games. Both the Southland under-18 teams got in some game time against under-16 opposition and would have been happy with their efforts across three games respectively.
The next tournament on the calendar will see our under-12, under-14 and under-16 boys’ and girls’ teams head to Oamaru on Saturday 1stDecember to take on Canterbury and Otago. Meanwhile, Southland based under-10, under-11, under-12 mixed and under-13 squads will take part in a development tournament in Alexandra on Sunday December 2ndto cap off their junior representative season.