All things Club Rugby for April 7th:

PREMIER 

Blues 14 - Marist 19

Kelvin Hotel Marist took on a young and exciting Blues outfit at Miller Street on Saturday. Marist dominated the first half using the wind to their advantage and spent long periods attacking inside the Blues 22. Marist were guilty of missing several chances due to unforced errors however, were rewarded when good passages of play came together down the left side leading Flynn Thomas scoring under the posts to make it 7-nil. That lead was extended to 12-0 when Marist again found space down the left-hand side after a good build up with Phil Halder playing at number 8, scoring. The second half was a completely different story as Marist made many uncharacteristic handling errors allowing Blues to get into the game and build phases and they were rewarded with a try. Another Marist break out led to Alatini Vaihu crossing the white line to make the score 19-7. Blues were by no means done though, scoring shortly after to make the score 19-14. The last five minutes of the game saw Marist holding on by the skin of their teeth. Some staunch defence managed to keep Blues out. Final score Marist 19 Blues 14. Player of the day for Marist was Flynn Thomas.  Blues were really pleased with how they came back in the second half but as in with many sports, you just can't afford to take 40 minutes to get your head in the game. Hats off to Marist they worked hard to slow the Blues ball down at ruck time and they played to the officiating better than we did. The Blues team are really happy with the way the boys are coming together and we always knew the first round was going to be a learning curve for such a young side.

22 Star – 18 Barbarians

Pirates 15 - Woodlands 40

Pirates come out strong for the first 10 mins and took it to the woodlands team up front and were instigators in the first sets of play, but woodlands defence was sound, and they managed to score the first points of the day as they counter rucked, picked the ball up and ran 50 metres to score. Pirates again punched on with their attack but a turn over lead to a Woodlands break away and they managed to score again from long range which was their strength that continued to show. Pirates bounced back with an individual try to Sam McLachlan who broke though the line and scored. POB went back onto attack and scored again but Woodlands pounced on every POB mistake and scored a great try again from long range. Woodlands went into the half time break ahead 17-10. Pirates again started well and looked to have scored from a charged down kick but was unfortunately disallowed. That was a wakeup call for Woodlands and they started to find their rhythm on attack which lead them scoring quick points as they counter attacked well from depth. A good 15 mins of play by Woodlands put the game away as they piled on the points with same well taken tries. The last 15 mins POB keep coming but the Woodlands defence held up well. Woodlands ended up taking the victory 40-15. POB played well in patches and with work on minimising mistakes, Pirates have full potential to be a threat in games to come. Woodlands, tries to Robert Mckenzie, Nico Costa, Sven Penwarden, Jarel Hehehema (2), Haamea Ahio and conversions to Ignacio costa. Player of the day performance went to Joseph Walsh.

DIVISION ONE

Waikaka 10 - Midlands 16

Good weather greeted both teams for this Division one fixture in Waikaka with only a slight breeze and ground conditions good. Waikaka started the game strongly dominating possession and territory in the first half. Waikaka put Midlands under a lot of pressure forcing several handling errors and struggling to exit their own half. Along with the fact Midlands played 'uphill' and into the breeze the Midlands coaching staff were happy going into the half-time break 10-0 down.  Waikaka were strong in the contact and targeted the ball well in the tackle.  The Winton based team started the second half a lot better and managed to gain some territory with some well-placed kicks from Ben Mckerchar at fullback. This allowed Midlands to get into a rhythm on attack and control the ball better. This pressured Waikaka into giving away some penalties which were into points. The second half progressed past the halfway point with the score 10-9 to Waikaka but Midlands were starting to gain the upper hand and were rewarded when Rowan Guise crashed over close to the posts to give a 16-10 lead. Waikaka rallied hard in the last 10 minutes of the game but Midlands defence was good and rose to the challenge. Midlands reserve bench helped make the difference in the final 20 minutes of the game. Rowan Guise, Adam Webster and Chris Menzies were stand out players for Midlands.

Mossburn 21-  Waiau Star 5

Mossburn Pirates have started season with a hard-fought win over Waiau Star.  Mossburn, who were promoted from Division Two last year had a case of the first game jitters as Waiau applied plenty of pressure early in the game. However, Mossburn went into the break ahead 13-5 with a nice try to Ryan Healy.  Callum Clark converted the try and landed two penalties. The game was played at a good speed which resulted in the Mossburn bench being emptied in the second half. Replacement first five-eighth Lenaitasi Kabakaba scored an unconverted try in the second half and Clark kicked another penalty giving Mossburn Pirates the win.  For Mossburn player of the day was fullback Josh Cavanagh, a talented young player in his first year out of Southland Boys’ High School.  Cavanagh kicked well out of hand and made plenty penetrating runs on attack.

Wyndham 18 - Edendale 16

Riversdale 20 - Te Anau 14

DIVISION TWO

Waikiwi 24 - Tokanui 17

Both teams showed early season nerves throughout the first half of the game.  Played at Waikiwi, the opening stanza was riddled with numerous handling errors resulting in neither team being able to build any phases. Waikiwi led 15-5 at half time and were able to get a few phases going in the second half, going onto win 24-17.  Tokanui dominated at set piece time in the second half but were unable to turn that dominance into points. Both teams left the field with plenty of ‘work ons’ for next week. Reuben Burgess and Regan Gutsell played well for the visiting side.  Tokanui's try scorers were Regan Gutsell, Jed Mitchell and the Come Back King - Jake Callahan.

Star B 40 - Wakatipu Wanderers 38

This game had it all, much like the resort town of Queenstown where the game took place, there was action a plenty!  78 points, tries for Africa and even 35 unanswered points from Star. Wakatipu got off to a flying start up 14 nil after 10 minutes on the back of a strong offloading and linking game plan.  With very little possession Star was able to pick a try just before half time to Caleb Spain making the score 28-5 going into the break. Two more tries in the second half to Wakatipu saw the score line blow out to 38-5. However, the injection of the Star reserve bench began what was a remarkable comeback.  Tries to number eight Chris McFall, Quinn White and a penalty try for a high tackle suddenly, Star were back in the game. A quick wee show and go by replacement halfback Shane Sawkins made the score 38-33 with just minutes to play. With a scrum on Wakatipu's try line and plenty of pressure Chris McFall crashed over for his second try and levelled the scores with time up on the clock.  Up stepped Calder White to kick the match winner and provide Star the most unlikely of wins. Lively openside flanker Bassy Mahon received player of the day for Star.

Blues B 71 - Marist B 8

AWS Legal Marist Development took on Blues Development at Miller Street and the home side got off to a great start when pivot Jordan Coutts slotted a penalty. Blues hit straight back but Marist were able to reply not long after to take an 8-7 lead. Unfortunately for Marist this is where the scoring stopped and a strong and well drilled Blues side were able to run in a number of tries to stretch the lead. Final score Marist 8 Blues 71. Player of the day for Marist was Dom Sipa. 

Woodlands B 56 - Pirates Old-Boys B 0

Pioneer 41 - DLS 17

Albion Excelsior 41 - Riverton 3

DIVISION THREE

Otautau 49 - Bush Pirates 14

Otautau played well throughout the game and got out to a handy lead.  For the home team standout players included Jacob Ryan, Cho Herewini and debutant fullback Matthew Sutton shining in a good first up hit out. Matty Brame also stood out and kicked well all day for the home side, the plucky Bush Pirates never gave up and the last quarter showed they can be a force in Division Three.

Bluff 72 - Collegiate 0

Bluff came out firing from the start and never took the foot off the throttle for the entire 80 minutes. Collegiate put up more of a fight in the later stages of the match but could not contain the onslaught. Very strong games by Houston Te Tai on the wing producing some silky skills with forwards Shanan Kapene and Simon Cade putting in some good work throughout the entire game. Bluff have been boosted in 2018 with the injection of former Premier players Sonny Rangitoheriri, Ra Kapene and Shanan Kapene from Woodlands, Mark Flutey from Blues and Tane Puki  from Marist.  These players are all originally from Bluff and have returned to their home club looking to help boost their desire to climb into the divisions above. Looking forward to a tough contest at home this weekend against a strong Otautau team.

Ohai Nightcaps 57 - Balfour 5

Mataura - BYE