Comfortable win gives Harbour top spot
THERE is a new competition leader.
Harbour has gone to the top of the standings following a comfortable 507 victory against AlhambraUnion at Watson Park.
Taieri improved to fifth with a tense 2827 win against Green Island at Miller Park.
University finally played some decent rugby and beat ZingariRichmond 4417 at Montecillo, while Dunedin will be doing some soulsearching this week.
The Sharks were thumped 7131 by Kaikorai at Kettle Park. It was an ugly blowout which has left the club in the bottom half of the standings.
Dunedin scored 17 points in the first 15 minutes against all predictions and looked to be in the game at Kettle Park.
It then tried to defuse the Kaikorai forward power by pulling down a couple of rolling mauls close to the line, lost lock Daniel Hogan for an inordinately long period and the game disappeared into the ether.
By 20 minutes into the second spell, Kaikorai had scored 40 unanswered points and Dunedin was history and consigned to the bottom four.
Kaikorai had complete dominance at scrum time.
Highlanders lock Jack Whetton stole at least five of the Sharks’ lineouts. In the last 60 minutes the home team hardly saw the ball — the gaps had to come and they duly did.
Kaikorai No 8 Patrick McCurran, and backs Ben Miller and TJ Ane must have been wearing purple shorts, as they were hardly ever tackled and scored nine tries between them. Miller also kicked eight conversions for a 31point haul.
Dunedin had no answer to the power and precision of the freeflowing passing game of Kaikorai with innumerable off loads and the power running of McCurran, Ane and Whetton.
Dunedin resembled traffic officers at times as they waved them through.
For Dunedin, No 8 Jamie Mowat never gave up. Halfback Devon OliverBell and winger Oscar SchmidtUili showed glimpses of their precocious talent.
Heartbreak for Green Island. Elation for Taieri.
The Battle of the Saddle was actually a decent match for a change. They have tended to be onesided affairs in recent times.
But Green Island is a much tougher opponent this season and Taieri showed it will be a force, as well.
Easily the game of the round, the outcome hung in the balance right up until Eels loose forward Nick Henderson hoofed the ball into touch deep into injury time.
Fullback Josh Casey had slotted a penalty five minutes earlier to give his side a 2827 lead and the score stayed that way.
The Eels played their best rugby in the opening minutes. They looked more organised out wide and lineout drives were working marvellously well.
They nabbed two tries that way and led 2210. But all that momentum dissolved following one big shove by Green Island.
The home team pushed Taieri off its scrum ball and dominated the forward exchanges thereafter. Otago No 8 Dylan Nel muscled over for the second of his two tries to cut the gap to 2217.
Replacement prop Sef Fa’agase pushed his way over to snatch the lead early in the second half.
Taieri pulled ahead with two penalties to one but had to endure a late rally. Green Island got the ball back with little time left and basically the entire field ahead of them.
After five minutes and many rucks, Henderson scooped up a fumble and booted it out. Job done.
No more dropsies this week. Assistant coach Roy Hawker is back from a business trip and the University backline was back in business.
The students ran in eight tries in a 4417 win against ZingariRichmond.
The Colours scored three of their own and arguably they were some of the best in the game. But home team was unable to match the pace and width with which University played.
Its loose forward trio of Sam Dickson, Jack McHugh and Highlander Dillon Hunt dominated the breakdown.
Hunt was on the ground one minute and then out in the backline the next. He covers a freakish amount of the ground and makes a million tackles each game.
But lock Josh Hill was the standout. He took care of the basics at lineout time and ranged around the paddock. Second fiveeighth Thomas UmagaJensen looked good in the midfield.
Neither side had the kicking boots on. Just three conversions were landed from 11 attempts. A lot of them were from out wide, though.
University shared the title with Harbour last year but has got off to a slow start. It was beaten 3015 in the opening round by Southern and lost the following weekend to Kaikorai.
That was a clumsy display, particularly out wide. But it had a bye last week and appears to have used the time wisely.
A strong performance from Harbour’s big forward pack laid the foundation for an eighttry to one victory and promotion to the top of the competition standings.
From the kickoff Harbour dominated territory and proceedings up front, capitalising on a nervous start from AlhambraUnion at the set piece.
Then, following a number of bruising tackles put in by AlhambraUnion defenders, Harbour scored the first of its eight tries through prop Saula Mau.
A New Zealand schoolboy representative last year, Mau proved a tower of strength in the Harbour tight five, and along with Highlander Ray Nuia kept the acid on the AlhambraUnion defenders with a barrage of linebreaks.
Fellow frontrower Abraham Pole and locks Charles Elton and Isaiah Mapusua also featured prominently in laying a solid platform for the backs to show their individual talents. A benefactor was secondfiveeighth Hemaua Samasoni, who scored a brace.
His second try resulted from a linebreak by Nuia, who drew in AlhambraUnion defenders before offloading to Samasoni