But defending Citizens Shield champion Kurow has shown it can still grind out a win.
The red devils put in a gutsy second half, taking down top-of-the-table Old Boys 24-22 at Whitestone Contracting Stadium in Oamaru on Saturday.
Old Boys stamped their mark early in the North Otago club match through a try to winger Sale Pi’i to lead 7-0.
Kurow struggled to gain any momentum, making silly errors and knock-ons, their lineouts were not straight and they kicked the ball dead when aiming for touch.
When Old Boys had the ball, they looked to be lethal, playing with the space and flare they are known for.
Lock Tevita Heehau was a strong ball carrier, ripping through Kurow’s defence.
He offloaded the ball to Logan Wilson, who took it to the line, bounced out of a tackle to pass it wide for Lenny Varu, who scored the second try of the day. Wilson converted the try and slotted a penalty shortly after to give Old Boys a 17-0 lead.
Wilson was solid for Old Boys, showing his class with the boot, and stepping his way through Kurow’s backline to make several breaks.
Desperate to get on the board before the break, second five Matt Faddes scored right on halftime, seeing Kurow trail 17-7.
If the first half was anything to go by, Old Boys looked to have the game sealed but Kurow was not about to let that happen.
It came out of the break a new team, as a massive scrum from the country club pushed the ball left, and Faddes showed his strength to score his second try.
A George Taylor conversion left Kurow trailing 17-14. Taylor was another standout for Kurow, never backing down, and showing his pace down the side.
Prop Cameron Keech scored, giving Kurow its first lead of the game, 19-17.
It was a big moment, swinging the momentum Kurow’s way. From there, it never let up, as Faddes scored again.
The former Highlanders back was in good form for his new club, and was strong in the contact, showing his strength, and had a good kicking game.
Sione Halalele bustled his way over to score Old Boys’ only points of the second half, but Kurow never backed down.
It was the only match of the round as both the Valley-Maheno and Athletic Marist-Excelsior games were postponed following Covid-19 outbreaks in the clubs.
