North Otago slumped to a 24-18 loss to East Coast — a third defeat in the opening four rounds for the Old Golds — as Heartland rugby came to Weston on Saturday.
It was a bruising, old-school game of rugby.
Both sides were impressive defensively but the East Coast forward pack out-muscled the Old Golds and that proved to be the difference.
A key moment of the game came in the final quarter.
North Otago had a lineout just inside the East Coast half, but the throw was not straight and they were penalised off the ensuing scrum.
A great kick to touch had the visitors just 5m out and a powerful lineout drive led to them scoring what turned out to be the match-winning try.
The Old Golds did have a chance to snatch it late with a 5m scrum.
They were down by six points and East Coast were down to 14 players after a yellow card for repeated infringement.
Unfortunately for North Otago, a messy breakdown off the ensuing carry led to them being penalised and the visitors walking away with the win.
Greg Dyer scored all 13 of North Otago’s first-half points courtesy of two penalties and a converted try.
His try was a fortuitous one.
He sliced through a gap in the defence but his pass inside was knocked down by an East Coast defender.
It took a favourable bounce into the hands of Mavaetangi Finau, who drew in a defender before passing it back to Dyer to score.
The Old Golds then dominated possession and territory in the second half but the East Coast defence stood tall.
The visitors were lucky to keep 15 men on the park as long as they did, racking up penalty after penalty.
Eventually, North Otago found a way through as Ben McCarthy gassed his defender off a scrum to score.
North Otago co-captain Cameron Rowland played his best game in the gold jersey while Fergus Read and Savenaca Rabaka continued to impress with their physicality and work rate. Dyer was tidy at first five while McCarthy was dangerous out wide.
South Canterbury continued their five-year unbeaten run in Heartland rugby with a 33-19 win over King Country, and the green and blacks will start as heavy favourites when they host North Otago in Pleasant Point this Saturday.
Whanganui stayed in second place with a 16-14 win over Thames Valley, Wairarapa-Bush beat Poverty Bay 39-24, West Coast pipped Buller 20-17 in the derby, and Mid Canterbury beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 39-14.
Heartland Championship
The scores
East Coast 24
Sam Parkes, Pamona Samupo, Joseph Royal tries; Fletcher Carpenter 3 con, pen
North Otago 18
Greg Dyer, Ben McCarthy tries; Dyer con, 2 pen
Halftime: East Coast 14-13.
