Tokanui provided big boost
quickly.
However, Hurley has seen enough so far to believe Quick will provide the Barbarians with a good option as they look for backto-back titles.
The Barbarians were pushed right to the 80th minute on Saturday by a winless Pirates-Old Boys team who look certain to notch up win No 1 in 2017 very soon.
It was the visiting Barbarians team who started best dominating the early exchanges and pushed out to a 24-nil lead.
However, the second half was Pirates-Old Boys’ half as they clawed their way back into the game reducing the scoreline to 24-19.
In the final few minutes PiratesOld Boys hammered the Barbarians line in search of a try and victory but couldn’t get over.
It has been a frustrating season for Pirates-Old Boys because of injury which was highlighted on Saturday when three regular loose forwards finished the game in the backline.
Former Stags hooker David Hall again lined for Pirates-Old Boys this time slotting in at lock.
They also received a boost with second five-eighth James Schrader fronting for his first game of the season after a lengthy stint on the sideline.
While disappointed not be in a better position in the standings Pirates-Old Boys coach Regan Johns said he couldn’t fault the attitude of the players.
Marist coach Marty Smith believes Friday night’s feisty 27-10 over Woodlands will be a game his players will remember for a long time.
After the scores were locked up at 10-10 at halftime Marist scored 17 unanswered second half points to claim a win despite playing with just 13 players at one stage.
Flanker Phil Halder was shown a yellow card in the first half with him deemed to by lying over the ball at a ruck. In the second half the officials believed Halder threw a punch as the two teams clashed in a decent dust up.
Halder was shown the yellow card for the second time which meant it automatically turned into a red card offence and he was sent from the field with the majority of the second half to play.
With second five-eighth Karl Townsend-Smyth also heading to the sin-bin Marist were down to 13. Woodlands also had troubles of their own in the second half losing key back Tauasosi Tuimavave to a pectoral injury.
The Marist and Barbarians victories mean they now have a handy seven point buffer over third placed Woodlands.
Star recorded probably the most important victory over the round toppling Blues 32-12 to put them in outright fourth position in the standings.
It was Blues who started best through first five-eighth Sam Muir who charged a kick down and regathered to score.
However, that was pretty much Blues’ lot for the game as Star took charge.
A strong run from centre Kalepi Holi to cut through the Blues defense and score was the tonic to spark Star as they progressed on to the bonus point win. Logan Nicholson played a key role at first fiveeighth for Star while their forwards were heavily involved in attack right across the park. Tokanui went from defaulting the previous week to a win on its home ground in division two club rugby action on Saturday.
The green and blacks beat Blues B 29-22 after being down 17-10 at halftime. Blues did well with only two reserves and were a chance to come back and level late in the game.
The score was 22-22 before Tokanui landed a converted try in the final quarter. Tokanui’s line outs and well-executed tries pleased coach Allan Marshall.
‘‘We scored some really good tries.’’
Captain Elliot Marshall was rapt with Tokanui’s defending. The team had to dug deep in the last 10 minutes to hold out Blues.
‘‘[Hooker] Amon Dean was strong with the ball and ran well. [First five-eighth] Chris Dermody came on and kicked well,’’ Elliott Marshall said.
Try-scorers for Tokanui were Dean (two), Dylan Leitch, Kieran Duthie and Aaron Rule.
Lincoln Harris, who was having his first game for the season after injuring an ankle, kicked two conversions.
A week earlier, Tokanui had to default to Mossburn because of a shortage players through various reasons.
Blues were light on numbers when they travelled to Tokanui. With five pulling out of the team on Saturday morning, coaches Shannon Townson and Ben Muir and manager Jono Taumata played.
‘‘We’ve had a lot of injuries . . . and we’re a feeder team to our premier side,’’ Townson said.
‘‘We showed a lot of ticker and stuck to it for the 80 minutes.’’
Townson praised Tim Eade, Mike Harrison and Cody Harris for their efforts. ‘‘Mike was everywhere, he’s a bit of a grunter. Tim and Cody were both elusive.’’
Blues’ try-scorers were Jamie More, Ben Muir, Jordan Walters and Jason Bishop, who also kicked a conversion.
In the Gore derby on Saturday between Albion-Excelsior and Pioneer it was Albion-Excelsior who grabbed a tightly contested 20-17 win.
In other division two games Waikiwi beat the visiting Wakatipu team 24-10, while OhaiNightcaps pipped Marist B 29-22 at Marist.
In division three a fired up Otautau team come from behind to beat a spirited Star B team by the closest of margins, 20-19. Balfour-