Returning prop lifts Star in upset
Morgan Mitchell has provided a glimpse of what he’ll offer to the Southland Stags this season after playing a key role in Star’s upset victory on Saturday.
The tighthead prop has returned to Southland, after four seasons playing in Japan, to join the Stags this year.
On Saturday he got through 80 minutes for Star as they latched on to a 14-13 win over top-of-the table Pirates-Old Boys at Surrey Park in Invercargill.
Mitchell’s work rate was impressive, particularly in defence, and his teammates around him lifted as well.
Star have also been bolstered by the return of lock Josh Bekhuis from Japan in recent weeks. Bekhuis has been another key figure in turning around Star’s form, despite the Waverley Park boys being well out of contention for a spot in the July 16 Galbraith Shield final.
Star led 7-6 at halftime on Saturday on the back of a Willie Tufui try. That was before Pirates-Old Boys scored through Isaac Te Tamaki in the second half to push out to a 13-7 lead.
But a try, converted by Fale Iosefa, late in the second half lifted Star to the victory.
It wasn’t all bad for PiratesOld Boys, given the bonus point for being within seven points was enough to secure them a spot in the Galbraith Shield final.
However, there will be some nerves floating around Surrey Park given their current form.
Pirates-Old Boys won seven straight games to start the 2022 season but have now lost three of their last four outings – although all of those losses have been by just one point.
Just who Pirates-Old Boys will play in the 2022 decider will be determined by the StarWoodlands clash in the final round this weekend.
Blues currently sit second, one point ahead of Woodlands. However, Blues have the bye in the final round.
If Woodlands can pick up two or more competition points against Star, they will progress to the final. If they don’t, Blues will head to the big dance.
There will be a decent dose of frustration within the Blues outfit if they don’t get to play finals rugby, given they have arguably been the form team in the competition in recent weeks.
Blues haven’t lost a game in the second round, but those results include two draws which might prove costly.
They demonstrated just what they’re capable of on Saturday when banking five competition points in Gore against the Eastern-Northern Barbarians, which is no easy task.
They scored some nice longrange tries in the 43-19 win with first five-eighth Osika Kaufonga a key part of that.
In good news for Stags fans, wing Michael Manson showed a glimpse of his pace and attacking threat against the Barbarians.
The former New Zealand secondary schools and Otago NPC player badly injured his hamstring in April. However, he got through 40 minutes against Pirates-Old Boys last week and 60 minutes against the Barbarians as he times his run for the NPC campaign.
Also of interest for Stags fans is Levi Emery joining the Barbarians for their past two outings.
The first five-eighth-cumfullback is a former North Otago and Otago representative and is likely to line up for the Stags this season.
Meanwhile, Midlands’ challenging 2022 campaign continued on Saturday with a 57-10 loss to Marist at Winton.
While Midlands have been spirited, and deserve commendation for challenging themselves in the premier ranks, they have lost all 11 games and conceded 553 points in the process.