A roundup of Round 6 of senior club rugby games in Dunedin over the weekend is as follows.
Southern 47
Dunedin 19
Dunedin front-rower Ayden Lloyd brought up his 100th game for the club at Bathgate Park on Saturday.
But it was not a memorable outing for the team. Dunedin fumbled its way to a 47-19 defeat.
The Sharks produced an error-ridden first half and showed a real reluctance to get under the high ball.
Southern, though, showed some genuine class out wide.
Mercurial fullback Mackenzie Haugh came up with some magic every second touch and was almost brilliant every other handle.
Winger Josh Buchan was just as threatening. He nabbed an intercept to run 50m and score the game’s opening try.
He was in again 10 minutes later.
Dunedin came up with another knock on. Buchan spotted space and chipped the ball ahead. Haugh regathered and flicked an inside pass back to Buchan to score.
Schmidt-Uili was in again just before the break.
Southern stretched its 23-12 halftime lead when veteran No8 Mika Mafi burst through close to the ruck and dotted down under the posts.
Dunedin faded in the last 20 minutes to let in three further tries.
The Sharks were understrength due to a large core of players sidelined through injury or illness.
But Southern will relish the win. Haugh, Buchan and impressive blindside Harry Taylor were the best of the Magpies, while Cooke and Schmidt-Uili were dangerous in space.
— Adrian Seconi
Kaikorai 62
Zingari-Richmond 8
Kaikorai eased to a 62-8 win over Zingari-Richmond at Montecillo.
The Colours let in six first-half tries while kicking a single penalty.
Their only other joy was a try to Tama Apineru 15 minutes from the end of the game. Otherwise, this game was all one-way traffic.
Kaikorai loose forwards Hayden Michael, Lucas Casey and Semisi Tupou-Ta’eiloa were busy.
First five Nic Proffit was accurate in everything he did and was a standout performer.
He directed play well. His positional kicking was sound and his goal kicking was excellent. He also made a jinking run to set up a try.
The front row gets a tick, while lock Harrison Morton shone.
Former Otago No8 Paul Grant even made a cameo off the bench to put a smile on the faces of the Kaikorai faithful.
The Colours shaped as a more competitive team this season, but five games in, they are looking ragged.
Their passing was laboured and their scrum was under pressure. But they did manage to string a few more phases together in the second spell.
— Adrian Seconi
Taieri 53
Alhambra-Union 0
Taieri shredded Alhambra-Union 53-0 to remain unbeaten this season.
AU has now conceded 304 points this season while adding only 19.
It has been a dismal start to the campaign for the Broncos. They lost their opening game of the season 76-8 to University and followed that up with a 99-0 loss to Dunedin.
They have only restricted a team to under 50 in one of their five games.
They could not restrict Matt Whaanga either. The Eels midfielder banked four tries — three of them in the first half.
He teamed up with brother Josh and caused havoc again.
Veteran loose forward Brodie Hume was the pick of the Taieri players, though. He tackled hard, hit the ball up, cleared out, got over the ball and he even bagged a try towards the end of the game.
AU first five Oscar Anderson had a tidy game in a well-beaten side.
— Adrian Seconi
Green Island 30
University 22
A powerful display from the Green Island forward pack paved the way for a four-try bonus point victory over University at Miller Park.
Collectively, the Green Island tight five monstered their opponents as the game progressed.
No8 Atunaisa Katoa played a starring role in his first start for the Grizzlies. He carried well and his charging runs from off the back of the scrum had the University defence scrambling.
Katoa’s try, with four minutes remaining, was typical of his ability to break the line from the set piece.
It broke a 22-22 deadlock and effectively secured victory and a valuable bonus point for Green Island.
University began the game showing plenty of promise when scoring in the opening minute through winger Jeremiah Asi, but allowed the home side straight back into the game through a breakout try to Nelson Yorston.
The Bookies bounced back to hold a 15-7 lead at the break. But Green Island showed more intent and less of an error rate in the second half to close the game up, shutting down the threats posed up front by University locks Master Aho and Mitchell Tinnock.
No 8 Will Stodart featured in broken play for the students.
A procession of penalties resulted in Finn Hurley denying University a bonus point for finishing within seven points, when slotting a penalty on fulltime.
— Wayne Parsons
Round 6
The scores
Taieri 53 (Matt Whaanga 4, Taylor Fiddes 2, Chicayne Giblett 2, Brodie Hume tries; Alex Honey 4 con),
Alhambra-Union 0. Halftime: 29-0.
Southern 47 (Josh Buchan 2, James Te Pairi 2, Mika Mafi, Paul Tupai, Ned Pene tries; Mackenzie Haugh 3 con, 2 pen)
Dunedin 19 (Oscar Schmidt-Uili 2, Thomas Hume tries; Corey Berkett 2 con). Halftime: 23-12.
Kaikorai 62 (Mefiposeti Tupou 2, Lucas Casey 2, Oliver Foote 2, Jordan McEntee, Michael Strydom, Kane Johnston tries; Nic Proffit 7 con, pen)
Zingari-Richmond 8 (Tama Apineru try; Thomas Johnson pen). Halftime: 43-3.
Green Island 30 (Nelson Yorton, Devin Stepley, Ben Lopas, Atunaisa Katoa tries; Finn Hurley 2 con, 2 pen),
University 22 (Jeremiah Asi, Jermaine Pepe, Hugo Lynch tries; Jacon Waikari-Jones 2 con, pen). Halftime: 15-7 University.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | B | Pts | |
| Taieri | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 205 | 49 | 4 | 28 |
| Kaikorai | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 189 | 78 | 5 | 21 |
| Dunedin | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 219 | 129 | 3 | 19 |
| Southern | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 140 | 90 | 3 | 19 |
| Gr Island | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 152 | 151 | 3 | 19 |
| Harbour | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 96 | 94 | 6 | 13 |
| University | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 180 | 164 | 3 | 11 |
| Zingari-R | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 67 | 208 | 2 | 4 |
| AU | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 304 | 0 | 1 |
Points earned for the bye: Kaikorai 5, Southern 4, Harbour 3, Zingari-Richmond 2, AU 1.
