Bad day at the office for all four Otago sides

THE OtagoSouthland combined round continued on Saturday, with all four of the Otago sides succumbing to their Southern counterparts.

The Dunedin Bears’ winning streak ended, falling 3626 to He Tauaa, which came out firing. He Tauaa had a dominant first half performance, racking up a 224 lead, before the Bears lifted in the second half.

The Bears played with a lot of individual brilliance, with Micah Lepaio scoring a hattrick, but were unable to gain ascendancy over a team that played extremely well together.

The Invercargill Cowboys continued on their winning ways, beating the Kia Toa Tigers 3622. The Cowboys opened the scoring through Brett Alcock, but the lead was short lived as Apii Taia returned the favour, scoring a try for the Tigers.

Neither side was able to establish dominance in the first half, with the score locked at 1212 heading into the break.

The second half looked to be going in the same vein, but the Cowboys proved too strong in the dying stages of the contest, keeping their composure under pressure to close the game out with a 14point buffer.

Chey Grace was a standout for the Tigers, having a dominant defensive game and scoring a try in the second half.

A depleted University side lost 388, after travelling to Elles Rd in Invercargill and facing a strong Cooks side.

Cooks started convincingly, the weight of possession soon taking its toll on the University defence as they ran in some impressive tries due to their structured attacking play.

The game looked over at halftime, but the students began to gain more possession and put their opponents under real pressure. However, they struggled to convert attacking opportunities into points.

Centre Ro Allen led the charge on attack for the students, utilising pace and footwork to upset the defensive line and pick up both of University’s tries. Allen found support in the form of teammates Kinnon Nelson, Tyson Ball and Ben Nicholson, who worked tirelessly for 80 minutes to try to turn the tide in University’s favour.

The University side was missing coach Ray Fitiao, captain Ricki Allan, and key players Jong Hoon Lee, Ben Tunnicliff, Joshua McKenzie, Jordan Stuart and Brooklan Niwa — all of whom are touring the United Kingdom with the New Zealand Universities Rugby League team.

The South Pacific Raiders defaulted their scheduled fixture against the WintonCity club.