Marist looms large as Barbarians try to rebound
EASTERNNORTHERN Barbarians coach Sean Hurley says it is time his lads produced the goods.
The Barbarians are licking their wounds after two tight losses in the past two outings in Southland’s premier club rugby competition.
The first was a 2819 loss to Blues, the second a 136 loss to Woodlands last Friday night.
Hurley described the game against Woodlands as the one that got away.
The Barbarians did well to contain a Woodlands backline that possessed many Stags hopefuls, including Nico Costa, Aleki Morris, Lewis Ormond, Jackson Ormond and Tauasosi Tuimavave.
The combined country outfit led 63 at halftime before letting in 10 unanswered secondhalf points to lose 136.
‘‘We just need to put that 80minute performance out there. We are certainly due a win,’’ Hurley said.
But in front of them in their attempt to get their 2018 campaign back into gear is competition leader Marist.
The Barbarians and Marist will square off at Miller St in Invercargill tomorrow, the only premier fixture that will be played tomorrow. The other two were played during the week.
For the Barbarians, a victory is needed as they attempt to retain their place in the top four with six games to play in the roundrobin series.
On the flip side, Marist is sitting a little bit more pretty at the top of the standings.
However, despite its place as com petition frontrunner, Marist also is not all that comfortable with its form to date this season and will be eager to find its mojo tomorrow.
Hurley was wary of what Marist had to offer and expected the defending champion to come into the game nice and fresh, given it had last weekend off after Star defaulted.
‘‘They’ll be tough. They have got a strong team, right from up front, with their props Shaun Stodart and Reuben Northover, through to their backline.’’
The Barbarians do have a good track record against Marist and have traditionally been able to unsettle the greenandblack brigade.
Hurley has pointed to fullback Rory van Vugt as a player who has caught the eye to date this season, and is pleased he has been included in the Stags’ wider training.
‘‘He has been going well for us. Then there are all our battlers, who just do the job week in week out for us,’’ he said.
The division 1 and division 3 competitions will take a break over Queen’s Birthday weekend. However, division 2 games have been scheduled for this week.
Meanwhile, Southland’s annual Queen’s Birthday weekend Town v Country fixture has been shifted to August 12, in Invercargill.
It will be played on the same day as the Southland Spartans v Otago Sassenachs fixture.
The two games will provide leadin fixtures to the Stags and Southland B representative seasons.
The Stags will open their Mitre 10 Cup campaign against Hawke’s Bay, in Invercargill on August 19.