Dunedin premier rugby: second round wrap-up

Southern mauled Harbour 48-17 at Bathgate Park this afternoon.

If you think that sounds exciting, it wasn’t. Trust us.

The opening 39 minutes fell firmly into the category of tedious.

Neither side could catch the ball. There was no continuity. The list of better ways to spend the afternoon included watching re-runs of Dora the Explorer.

Southern midfielder Will Siale Fong provided some late relief from the boredom when he finished a try which started more or less the other end of the field .

Harbour imploded in the second half. They picked up a second yellow card and Siosifa Pole got red-carded for a high tackle with 13 minutes remaining.

Southern played much better, though. The passes stuck and they scored some decent tries. Winger Carlos Lancaster-Bartlett dotted down twice.

He hobbled the last few strides to score the second. Cramp got him good.

There was more excitement elsewhere around Dunedin.

Shaun Driver knocked over a late penalty to seal a 34-32 win against Taieri at Montecillo. It was Past Players Day at the club, so that will have gone down well with the Colours’ faithful.

Dunedin trailed University 18-14 at the break at Logan Park, but fought back to win 27-18.

Kaikorai blitzed Alhambra-Union 71-8 at the North Ground.

Green Island had a bye.