Taieri romps home for the jug
TAIERI won the Speight’s Jug for winning the first round, clinching the trophy with a comfortable victory over ZingariRichmond at Montecillo on Saturday.
Taieri finished even on 31 points with University but had won the encounter between the teams, so finished on top.
In other games, Harbour beat Kaikorai 4033, Southern beat AlhambraUnion 3327 and Dunedin beat Green Island 2918.
The Gallaway Trophy starts next week.
Taieri ...................................... 50 ZingariRichmond ................. 20
The Taieri side had the game in the bag after a quarter of the match had been played.
The visiting team jumped out of the blocks and scored its first try through No 8 Brodie Hume after barely a minute.
It continued to pile on the points and had the fourtry bonus point after 20 minutes, up 266.
Left winger Shannon Young picked up the cherries on offer and helped himself to a hattrick of tries in the first half.
The fivepointers came about through the good work of the forwards, who laid the ball back well, and the holes in the ZingariRichmond defence, which missed too many tackles. Taieri led 366 at the break. The home team came back into the game in the second half with more possession and vigour but it had given Taieri too much of a head start.
Josh Casey piloted the Taieri side round the paddock and was an elusive runner.
He scored a fine individual try in the second half, while Marc Rooney was lively at fullback.
Up front, flanker Josh Brown was all over the park and captain Josh Larsen drove hard.
Lock Tom Rowe gave his all for ZingariRichmond, as did flanker Mathew McCormick. Prop Jesse Muir hit hard while out the back, Chris McNoe ran well and made some nice breaks.
Southern ................................ 33 AlhambraUnion ................... 27
In a match where the lead changed hands several times, Southern was ahead at the time
that mattered against AlhambraUnion at Bathgate Park.
AlhambraUnion was up 2726 with time ticking down but a nice long pass from Southern No 8 Mika Mafi went to his captain, Kyle Harris, and he sprinted away to score the winning try.
It was a closerun thing and AlhambraUnion will be kicking itself for knocking the ball on over the line in the second half, letting a try go begging.
Southern showed some nice touches on attack and halfback Liam Howley had one of his better games since shifting up from Southland this year.
AlhambraUnion led 2219 at the break after Southern had skipped out to a 145 lead through tries to Howley and quick winger Tom Yarrall.
Fullback Conner Newlands was yellowcarded for the visiting team early in the second half and that led to Yarrall scoring his second try.
A nice run from winger John Tapueluelu led to a try for AlhambraUnion and it went back ahead, but Southern had the last laugh.
Legin Felix Hotham played well in the midfield for AlhambraUnion and lock Ben Webby was lively.
Yarrall, who was up from the Colts team, played well and lock Pari Pari Parkinson impressed.
Mafi played his usual rugged game. He may be moving to North Otago to play club rugby there and play for the North Otago Heartland team. His absence, if it happens, will be a big blow for Southern.
Harbour .................................. 40 Kaikorai ................................. 33
A powerful performance from the Harbour tight five laid the platform for a 4033 victory in a keenly contested game against Kaikorai at Bishopscourt.
After the home side leapt out to a 140 lead inside the opening quarter, through tries to flanker Slade McDowall and centre Eti Slater, the big men of the Harbour pack began to take control and turn the fortunes of the game in its favour, effectively shutting down the mobility of the Kaikorai side.
And as the Harbour pack regained control, the points followed through a brace of tries to Pilu Tavake and the first of two tries to powerhouse blindside flanker Joketani Koroi, giving Harbour a 2019 lead at the break.
The Harbour pack, inspired by Pole brothers Abraham and Sekonaia, and the imposing presence of Koroi, played a major role in keeping the home side pinned inside its own half throughout the third quarter. Harbour scored a further two tries and extended its lead to 3419.
Kaikorai stemmed the tide by calling on its bench and was soon rewarded with two tries in quick succession to come back within a point of Harbour, which was clinging to a 3433 lead with 15 minutes to play.
Harbour bounced back, but despite camping in Kaikorai’s half with an abundance of ball, was limited to just two late penalty goals.
Dunedin .................................. 29 Green Island ......................... 18
Dunedin played with a strong breeze at its back in the first spell but had only seven points on the board by halftime.
It scored inside 12 minutes when centre Leroy Van Dam went over out wide.
But that was to be its only points as Green Island repelled wave after wave of attack in valiant defence, as the tackle count rose at a staggering rate.
Dunedin did not help its cause with some terrible handling, meaning many of its attacks broke down at inopportune times.
Green Island started the second spell in urgent fashion with the wind at its back. Veteran prop Pete Mirrielees went over close to the posts inside six minutes to give it a threepoint lead and things looked ominous for the Sharks.
But, as often happens when playing into the wind, Dunedin hid the ball for large parts of the spell and snuffed out any chance Green Island had.
The Dunedin pack exerted its dominance and scored twice from forward drives, to lock Mark Grieve Dunn and prop Corrie Barrett.
The number of tackles Green Island had made was starting to tell and when fullback Josh McKay spotted a gap in the midfield and raced 50m to score, Green Island’s game was done.
Green Island’s best player, Finn Strawbridge, went over for a late consolation try off an Alex Barnsley break.
For Dunedin, Ben Freschini was far and away the best with his innumerable carries, and was always a threat at lineout time. He has certainly put the Otago selectors on notice with his performances of late.
The Dunedin front row, especially the tireless Teague McIlroy, got through a power of work.
McKay and Van Dam were best out wide and young replacement Irish first five Cormack Fox was tireless on debut.
For Green Island, hooker Jake Fowler and lock Woody Kirkwood were into everything, and Strawbridge was classy in all he did at first five.
Young whistleblower Oliver Hadfield had a tidy debut in premier officiating and quickly established a good rapport with both teams.