King Country stay atop the Lochore Cup rugby standings after proving too strong for Heartland rivals Buller at Te Kuiti today.
King Country won 44-5 after scoring seven tries to one, including a hat-trick to wing Lolohea Loco.
Loco caused Buller continual problems when King Country decided to spread the ball wide and crossed for their opening two tries to enable them to lead 15-0 at halftime.
The match opened up after the interval, with King Country's forwards squeezing the visitors out of the game.
Halfback Ben Draper was another to impress for the home team and pulled of a fine 50m try after Buller handed over possession at a ruck.
Buller were never in the contest after halftime, but they were well served by centre Penijamini Nabainivula, one player willing to take on the King Country backs.
He initiated at least two midfield breaks which Buller were unable to take full advantage of.
Score: King Country 44 (Lolohea Loco 3, Luke Draper, Ben Draper, Sam Mason, Ross Fenton tries; Tanner Vili pen, 2 con, Jared Murrell con) Buller 5 (Blair McIlroy try). Halftime: 15-0.
