Spartans win battle of shadow teams
THERE was certainly a preseason feel to the Sassenachs hitout against the Spartans yesterday.
Combinations were still forming and mistakes were evident as the young shadow Otago side was beaten by its Southland counterpart 3819 at Kettle Park.
The Sassenachs, the Otago team, were without anyone playing in the club semifinals.
That gave the lineup a very inexperienced look, but it battled hard.
A strong period after halftime was key for the Spartans.
During that time the Sassenaches struggled to obtain possession and were forced to make a lot of tackles in their own half.
That created pressure which led to three of the Spartans’ six tries.
The Sassenachs made use of their strong forward runners on attack but often struggled to obtain good field position.
The lineout was messy and the kicking was not always accurate.
But that can be expected in a game like this.
However, there was plenty of effort and Otago coach Cory Brown was pleased.
‘‘I was really proud of the effort that the boys put in,’’ Brown said.
‘‘There was some young guys in there that stood up and showed some really good skills.
‘‘We’ve only come together this week, really, and I thought it was a really good effort.
‘‘Southland deserved to be the winners, there’s no doubt about that, but all in all, I was really happy.’’
It had been good to give some of the younger players a chance.
‘‘Look, it was always going to be like that. We had to play this game,’’ he said when asked about the missing players.
‘‘But I wanted to give those guys [today] an opportunity and some of them did put their hands up.’’
He said University centre Josh Timu had a good game, as had ZingariRichmond flanker Jack Wolfreys.
Both halfbacks, Kurt Hammer and Connor McLeod, earned praise, as did first fiveeighths, Taylor Haugh and Thomas Johnson.
He also felt Taieri openside flanker Josh Brown had played well.
The Spartans started better and made that count eight minutes in.
Sam Stewart scooped up a pass that went to ground from Liam Howley to make it 50.
After a long period played largely between the 22s, second fiveeighth Matt Whaanga got the Sassenachs in front.
He spun through a tackle to score under the posts off a scrum 10m out, which had been earned after a strong kickchase from Jona Nareki.
A poor kickoff reception allowed the Spartans to hit straight back, Jordan Stewart scoring on halftime to take the score to 127.
The Spartans came out stronger after the break, scoring two quick and relatively soft tries to Lewis Ormond and Ray Tatafu, that extended the score to 247.
Vilimoni Koroi got one back for the hosts, scooping up a loose ball and running 40m.
Jay Renton crossed for another for the Spartans, before Wolfreys got one back for the Sassenachs.
In a flurry at the finish, the Spartans added one more through No 8 Bill Fukofuka.
The Otago team heads into fulltime training tomorrow, as it builds towards the Mitre 10 Cup.