Invercargill Blues’ game against the Eastern Northern Barbarians at the Gore Showgrounds tomorrow is the feature match in round three of Southland’s Galbraith Shield competition.
Blues produced the highlight of round two by beating the defending champions, Star, 27-19 last weekend.
Blues played an expansive style and made very few mistakes. They are expecting a tougher task this weekend when trying to convert their opportunities into points.
The Barbarians have the stronger side on paper and will be desperate to perform closer to their potential after getting thrashed by Pirates Old Boys 48-10 last week.
The Barbarians need to be more accurate at the ruck and when finishing their attacking raids.
Woodlands will start favourites against Star at Waverley Park tomorrow. Woodlands fielded a strong team last weekend when they defeated Marist 50-3.
Woodlands were a lot sharper than in round one and had their four-try bonus point before halftime. Second five Fletcher Morgan scored three tries and kicked five conversions.
Morgan has the ability to play multiple positions in the backline and last year he earned selection in the New Zealand Heartland XV after representing Thames Valley.
The Woodlands defence was good against Marist but it should get a stronger workout tomorrow.
Marist have the home advantage again this week, but they will need more things to go their way if they are going to seriously compete with Pirates Old Boys.
Southland’s division one competition kicks off this weekend. The Northern and Eastern Southland clubs dominate this eight-team division containing Albion, Wyndham, Pioneer, Tokanui, Waikaka-Riversdale Vikings, Edendale, Te Anau and the newly promoted Bluff.
The four clubs from Central Southland and the three clubs from Western are part of the 17-team division two competition.
The women’s competition also gets under way tomorrow, featuring seven teams.
