Dannevirke wins big rugby derby
After a close win to Dannevirke Seniors at Dannevirke in the first round, the rematch against Bush Seniors at Woodville Rugby ground was much anticipated and a large crowd in excess of 100 turned out to see senior rugby at its best in Tararua on Saturday, June 23.
The game was fast and open, both packs taking up the ball strongly to be met by equally determined defence. The game was scoreless until after 10 minutes of pressure from Dannevirke it earned a penalty. It was another 10 minutes of tough confrontation before the Bush line was crossed wide out, the conversion missing.
Both sides had their moments on attack but failure to hang on to the last pass plagued both teams. A penalty to Dannevirke put it up 11-0 but a break through the midfield yielding a good try to Sam Arends rewarded Bush resolve, the try unconverted.
Just before halftime a penalty tap by Dannevirke first-five Mitch Nation saw him surge through the defence, feeding Sam Jones to score beside the posts. This gave Dannevirke an 18-5 lead at halftime.
Turning with a slight breeze advantage, Bush again had its moments but Dannevirke’s backline began to penetrate Thomas Kuggeleijn and Logan Massie running strongly.
Again great defence initially kept Dannevirke’s scoring to another penalty. After 10 minutes Taylor Lowe detached from the scrum to score for Dannevirke and the conversion took the score to 28-5. The game see-sawed for the rest of the game until a tip from the lineout to the front had Logan Augustine crash over to complete the scoring 10 minutes from the end, the result being 33-5.
Dannevirke Sports Club Seniors are going well having come from a deficit of 19-0 to beat Massey Rams 26-22 the previous week while a run of injuries has hampered Bush in its efforts to put a consistent team on the field.
The great spirit of the game, well refereed by Brittany Andrew, is typical of local derbies this side of the ranges.