Late Counties tries sink Southland U19

SOUTHLAND leaked three tries in the final 14 minutes against Counties to lose its final outing at the national under19 tournament in Taupo on Saturday.

Southland impressed on the way to a 2410 lead midway through the second half against Counties.

However, a lengthy injury break to assess a Counties player halted the Southland momentum, and Counties eventually snatched a 2924 victory.

The last of the Counties tries came with time up on the clock.

The loss meant Southland finished 12th in this year’s Jock Hobbs Memorial Cup competition.

Individually, there were some promising performances from Southland against Counties.

Wing Josh Mason carried the ball strongly, and hooker Jayden Henderson showed some nice skills in among the tough work up front.

Ben Paulin was good at lineout time and also worked hard around the field.

Second fiveeighth Devon McLeod did a good job with the boot as a fillin for Ben Pope, who had a nasty ankle injury inflicted in the side’s 590 loss to Waikato on Wednesday.

Southland B, which included a host of fringe Stags players, suffered a 2824 loss to Otago B on Saturday.

Southland trailed 217 after 33 minutes, but worked hard throughout to remain in touch.

The Southland B game was one of two curtainraiser fixtures at Rugby Park on Saturday. Otago beat Southland 3920 in the under18 girls clash.