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.
Invercargill Blues produced the highlight of the round, beating the defending champions Star 27-19 at Balmoral Dr.
Appleby Park provided the perfect conditions for running rugby and 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 said.
Wilson said it was a big improvement from round one from his side.
"We did really well converting our territory gains and opportunities into points."
The direct ball carries from openside flanker Johnny Nuima and Jay Naqianivalu had Blues rolling forward.
Wilson credited those up front for setting up the win.
"Johnny had a really good preseason and is a physical carrier, big Jay can play anywhere, and he enjoys the space at centre and hitting it up around the ruck. We want his hands on the ball as much as possible."
Brad Kooman scored three tries from fullback.
Kooman and the wingers also have a licence to roam.
"We like to see them floating around on attack."
Blues scored the first converted try and traded points through to halftime with the visitors scoring just before the break to lead 19-12.
Wilson said Star made gains out wide.
"We were getting exposed, we fixed that and we improved more than they did in the second half."
Pirates Old Boys (POB) beat the Eastern Northern Barbarians 48-10 at Surrey Park.
POB left wing Materua Tupou scored his second try to put the locals ahead 19-0 after 25 minutes.
The Barbarians came back into the match with two tries before a play from POB centre Jaye Thompson stretched the lead to 26-10 at halftime.
Another one of the local playmakers, Kaea Nikora Balloch, scored a try late in the game to put the icing on a convincing victory for captain Greg Dyer’s birthday.
Barbarians coach AJ Aitken described the match as just one of those things.
"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."
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."
Woodlands beat Marist 50-3 at Miller St in Invercargill.
A Marist 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 round one and had their four-try bonus point before halftime.
Woodlands second five-eighth Fletcher Morgan scored three tries and kicked five conversions.
Marist did well to limit the visitors to three converted tries in the second half but it was a disappointing performance from Marist.
By John Langford
