A big crowd is expected at Rugby Park of the 2.05pm kickoff for the Donald Stuart Memorial clash against Otago and Rugby Southland’s marketing team have put an effort into making "Stag Day" entertaining both on and off the field.
The Stags put in plenty of effort in their final warm-up match against Tasman in Christchurch last Friday. The Stags spent most of the game defending a classy Tasman team that included All Blacks Will Jordan, David Havili, Ethan Blackadder and Noah Hotham.
Despite losing 36-7, the Stags will be confident they can win this opening match against an Otago team that was beaten 47-nil in their final warm-up match by Canterbury.
The Southland Development team got their season under way a fortnight ago with a 29-nil win over North Otago. They then put in an error-ridden performance to lose 14-12 to Mid Canterbury in Oamaru on Saturday. Riverton’s Kalani Elder was one of the better players on the wing. Southland Development coach Richard Jones will be expecting a more accurate performance next Friday night against Southland Country.
Southland Country started its 2024 campaign on Saturday by beating North Otago Development 39-19.
Southland under-19 had a 38-all draw at Les George Oval on Saturday against a New Zealand Marist under-23 development team. The Southland U19 team is coached by Scott Eade and captained by prop Keflar Morrison. Blindside flanker Hemi Raimona, hooker Shaun Kempton and No 8 Justin Shaw were three of the better players last week.
Southland U19 will play the Otago Sassenachs team this Saturday at Marist. The U19s’ three major assignments this season are against the Otago, Canterbury, and Tasman U19 teams.
The Southland Hinds beat South Island Heartland XV 38-5 on Saturday. The Hinds will start as underdogs against a Canterbury Development team in Oamaru this Saturday.
- By John Langford
