The Eastern Northern Barbarians provided the highlight in round six of the Southland premier club competition when they beat the Pirates Old Boys Hawks 19-17.
The Barbarians had been disappointing in their previous two games and were determined to get back on track by shooting down the previously unbeaten Hawks.
With duck-shooting taking precedence on Saturday, the games were played during the week.
On a cold, wet and windy Thursday night in Gore, the locals started best into the wind, but after a scoreless 20 minutes Pirates Old Boys scored first when centre Jaye Thompson used his speed to glide around the outside of a tight forward to score.
Second five Napo Seru barged over for the next try.
Kaea Nikora-Balloch landed his second conversion and then a penalty for the Hawks to go into halftime leading 17-0.
Barbarians coach Bretton Taylor felt his team had played decent rugby in the first half and did not feel out of it.
The Baabaas’ first converted try came after a penalty punt to the corner led to a successful lineout take and drive over the line.
The next try came from pick-and-go movements which closed the gap to 17-12.
Pirates Old Boys’ scrum was under pressure and they lost prop Levi Gage to the sin bin after giving away repetitive scrum penalties.
The Barbarians then earned a penalty try from a scrum to seal victory.
Taylor said it was a team effort.
"Everyone played their part but our forward dominance was the key factor. Our scrums and lineouts were flawless; we camped down their end until we came away with points."
Loose forward Caine Taylor played the entire game in the midfield, and was joined in the second half by centre Angus Simmers, who was making his first appearance of the season.
Woodlands had a 27-7 win on their home ground over Marist on Thursday night.
Woodlands took confidence into the game after beating the Barbarians the previous week and having inside backs Liam Howley and Colin McKay back in the squad.
They played into wind in the first half and worked well together to score three tries and lead 20-7 at the break.
The field conditions deteriorated in the second half and so did the ball handling, although the locals were able to earn the vast majority of field position and possession.
Handling errors led to numerous scrums, where Woodlands excelled.
Loosehead prop Bryan Tyrell played well in Joe Walsh’s absence, and Chris Barrett made sure the scrum lost nothing when he replaced Paula Latu at halftime.
Teenaged blindside flanker Justin Shaw was good in the lineout and used his range of skills to score a nice try. Winger Sione Baker also stood out.
The Blues-Star game will be played at King’s Birthday Weekend.
— John Langford
