The game started with a bang as Southern fullback Obey Samate snaffled a clearing kick and waltzed through flimsy defence to score under the bar.
Dunedin did not have time to be shocked as midfielder Keenan Christian Goss found a hole on the blindside and Oscar Schmidt-Uili was just too fast out wide and it was 7-7 inside four minutes and hardly a tackle had been made.
Dunedin lost two players to the sin bin in the first spell but nobody told Schmidt-Uili as he scored two more tries with his extreme pace.
Southern winger Riku Kitahara cut the lead to four points at the break. He was over after a nice run from an overlap and a couple of nifty steps to get Southern back into the game.
Dunedin right winger Freedom Vahaakolo made a break early in the second spell and, two passes later, halfback Tim Hogan was over by the posts to lead by 11. It looked like being a high-scoring affair but strangely the points dried up completely.
Southern had plenty of possession in the second spell but its one-off running was ponderous. The Dunedin defence tightened up and it deserved to regain the prized Ron Reggett trophy.
For Dunedin, Schmidt-Uili was dangerous out wide and was well supported by fullback George Witana and midfielder Christian Goss. Openside flanker Angus Duckett was a constant menace for Dunedin and lock Ben Freschini continued his good form.
For Southern, first five-eighth Mitch Taylor was tidy in everything he did. Blindside flanker Rewi Pomare was strong on the carry and Samate and Kitahara showed some promising flashes out wide.
University 19 Harbour 16
It may have been flanker Henry Bell’s 21st birthday, but it was first-five eighth Taylor Haugh who was the toast of the University team as it walked off Watson Park on Saturday following a last-gasp win over Harbour.
With just three minutes remaining, and the game in the balance at 16-16, the University pack rumbled its way deep into Harbour territory with a series of pick-and-goes from which the ball was eventually passed back to Haugh, who slotted the dropped goal and a 19-16 victory to secure the Bookworms a place in the playoffs.
The first quarter was a scoreless affair as both sides countered the threats posed by the other.
But as the University pack began to dominate up front and the backs became free to run into space, the points followed.
Lock Josh Hill featured at the line out and posed a threat around the fringes with his ball-carrying skills as he played a major role in University taking a 13-0 lead into the break.
Harbour rang the changes and came out firing in the second half, closing the game up through tries to hooker Hagan Free and halfback Nathan Hastie, both resulting from mauls close to the line.
The University loose forward trio of Bell, Jack McHugh and Sean Withy was once again never far from the action.
Haugh’s long cutout passes forced the Harbour defence to scramble. Centre Josh Timu and fullback Jermaine Pepe featured out wide.
Harbour was once again well-served by No8 Charles Elton, flanker James Tomkinson and lock Taylor Dale.
Green Island 24 Zingari-Richmond 21
This clash was dubbed the dance of the desperates. And desperate the teams were.
The bottom-of-the-table clash between Green Island and Zingari-Richmond at Montecillo more than lived up to its billing.
Green Island burgled the win deep in injury time when Sunia Makasini waltzed past three defenders in a determined 35m run to the line.
The Grizzlies were trailing 21-17 when Makasini jigged his way to the corner.
Talented goal-kicker Isaak Te Hiwi eventually slotted the conversion to complete a 24-21 win.
He takes an age to line up his kicks and got the raspberry from the Montecillo faithful who, just moments earlier, had collectively been glancing at the time and wondering if the game was over.
Green Island looked like it had blown it when it fumbled close to the line. But the game continued and there was that one last twist.
Zingari-Richmond had the better of the second spell, though.
The Colours trailed 14-11 at the break. Thomas Johnson had kept his side in touch with a couple of penalties and winger Shen Soseu had scored against the run of play.
Green Island lost some zip when halfback James Arscott went off injured late in the opening half. But it scored two lovely tries in the first half.
Johnson added a third penalty to level the scores. Green Island replied but was caught off guard from the kick-off.
Lock Woody Kirkwood, who had another industrious match, went up to take the ball but missed.
Replacement loose forward Matthew McCormick rushed by, gathered the bouncing ball and scored for the home team.
Kaikorai 33 Alhambra-Union 32
Alhambra-Union had the razzle-dazzle out wide.
Kaikorai had the grunt up front.
Grunt prevailed — just.
Kaikorai held on to beat Alhambra-Union 33-32 in a thriller at Bishopscourt.
Highlander Vilimoni Koroi pushed a late conversion wide which would have sealed a win for the visiting side.
But not all is lost for the Broncos. They picked up two bonus points and can still sneak into the playoffs if everything goes their way in the final round-robin matches.
Kaikorai was determined to keep the ball in close and out of the arms of Alhambra-Union’s potent backline.
There were some very honest shifts put in by the pack.
Prop Jonah Aoina nabbed two tries from lineout drives.They are not that great to watch but they still count.
Lock Pita Sinamoni was a tower of strength and No8 Patrick McCurran crashed over from a pushover try.
The ever-dangerous Christian Lio-Willie had another good game on the side of the scrum. He got across for a try as well.
First five-eighth Ben Miller had a good day with the boot, drilling four of five conversion attempts.
But Alhambra-Union provided the entertainment. It scored the opening try and it was a spectacular one.
The Broncos moved the ball from a scrum 10m inside their own half and then reset. Left wing Pecili Malanicagi popped up on the other flank and made a big break.
He got the pass inside to centre Noah Cooper who ran around and dotted down under the posts.
Highlanders winger Jona Nareki was menacing with the ball and scored a cracker as well.
- ODT rugby writers