Southland’s six premier club rugby teams were intent on producing improved performances in round two of the Galbraith Shield Competition on Saturday but not all delivered.
The Eastern Northern Barbarians suffered a 48-10 defeat by Pirates Old Boys at Surrey Park in Invercargill.
The locals quickly built a 19-point lead before the Barbarians came back into the match with two tries.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the Pirates centre Jaye Thompson stretched the lead to 26-10 at halftime.
Barbarian’s Coach AJ Aitken described the match as just one of those things.
"We didn’t click and just weren’t good enough.
"They’re a classy outfit, their backline was phenomenal, they’re so quick moving the ball from Greg [Dyer] and with Jaye [Thompson] running those lines, they’re hard to stop," he said.
Aitken said his team could not take their opportunities in the first half and their mistakes were punished.
"We were chasing their lead the whole game, we looked good at times but then their defence would put a big shot on, or punish us when we were short at the ruck."
Midfielder Angus Simmers was solid for the Barbarians and No8 Zak Donovan carried the ball strongly.
First five-eighth Rylee Stewart did his job well and loose forward Jacob Coghlan and prop Morgan Mitchell made an impact when they took the field after halftime.
This Saturday the Barbarians will play Invercargill Blues at the Gore Showgrounds from 3pm.
Blues produced the highlight of round two when they beat the defending champions, Star, 27-19 at Balmoral Dr.
Blues coach James Wilson said it was a good game to watch.
"Both sides were moving the ball wide and making very few mistakes."
Wilson reported it was a big improvement from their 24-21 round one loss to Marist.
"We did really well converting our territory gains and opportunities into points."
Woodlands beat Marist 50-3 at Miller St in Invercargill.
Marist’s penalty goal opened the scoring but that was it for the green and blacks, as Woodlands took control.
Woodlands were a lot sharper than in their round one 7-6 loss to the Barbarians.
The division one competition kicks off this Saturday at 3pm.
Albion and Wyndham will play on field two at the Gore Showgrounds, while across town at Newman Park Pioneer will play Tokanui.
The Waikaka-Riversdale Vikings will host Bluff in Riversdale, while Edendale will travel to Te Anau.
The division two competition also gets under way for Mataura at 3pm at Tulloch Park against Otautau-Ohai Nightcaps.
The Pioneer women’s team start their campaign on home turf against the Marist and Midlands combination at 1.15pm.
Albion women play at the same time in Queenstown against Wakatipu.
The Mataura women’s team has the bye.
By John Langford
