Woodlands reverse form guide with victory over Barbarians
Never count Woodlands out.
Saturday’s result in the latest round of the Southland premier rugby competition is the perfect reason why.
The previous couple of weeks they had fallen to Marist and then suffered a 50-point home loss to Star, a game which really hurt the country club.
This week they headed to Gore facing the difficult task of beating the Eastern Northern Barbarians on their home turf, one of the hardest things to do in Southland club rugby. However, they did exactly that with a hard fought 20-13 victory.
Woodlands coach Richard Jones said they were pleased to bounce back strongly following a tough couple of weeks.
“We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves, but coming off last week’s result we were happy. To get the win over the Barbarians in Gore was pleasing.”
Woodlands, who had been missing a host of players to injury, were also without Stags prop Joe Walsh, who had a knee niggle in warm-ups and wasn’t risked.
“We had two other props on the bench so we took the safe approach with Joe. We’re hopefully getting a couple more players back this week. It was pleasing to see those younger guys step up.” Jones said he was proud of his side and the way they defended against a strong Eastern Northern Barbarians outfit.
“Club footy is a good challenge. It’s pretty tricky to get 22 fellas on the park some weeks. It’s going to be a good result for our group.
“We have leaked a few points on defence the last couple of games so it was great to see us really stand up defensively this week.”
Veteran hooker Jason Rutledge was again a standout, while winger Sione Baker returned from injury with a couple of impressive tries. “Jase won three or four turnovers at key times for us. He really turned back the clock. Sione was outstanding in his return from injury. Alex Yallop went well, so did Cole Williams, everyone really stood up,” Jones said.
This week would be a short turnaround with Marist on Thursday night.
“They are a tough side with guys like Scotty Eade and Keanu [Kahukura] and Hunter [Areaiti Burgess] in the forwards. We didn’t play that well against them a couple of weeks ago, so we will be looking to play much better at home.”
Meanwhile, Star scored a hard earned 26-5 victory over a gallant Marist outfit at Waverley Park.
Star’s big hard running forwards laid the foundation, while Marist were hot on attack for much of the second half, but plucky Star defence kept them at bay.
A double to hooker Shaun Kempton and his replacement Joe Harwood helped Pirates Old Boys to an impressive 69-3 victory over Blues at Surrey Park.
Blues led early through a penalty goal before POB quickly hit their straps.
The next round of games would take place on Thursday evening due to duck shooting, with Marist visiting Woodlands and Pirates Old Boys heading to Gore to face the Eastern Northern Barbarians, both at 7pm.
Star and Blues had the weekend off, with their clash being played on King’s Birthday Weekend as part of the Blues’ 150th jubilee celebrations.