Southern produced a stubborn defensive screen to shut down high-flying University A in the feature club rugby game at the University Oval on Saturday.
On the few occasions the first line was breached, the cover was across to stop the student attack, and it helped Southern regain the Cavanagh Trophy, which it last held in 2006.
Midfield backs Luke Herden and Laurie McCowan both had solid defensive games and closed down the student attacks.
The hard tackling put the student backs on the back foot and they frequently spilled the ball behind the advantage line.
The breakdown was another area where Southern excelled and gained a lot of turnover ball.
Loose forwards Tom Preece, Ollie Spence and Carl Anderson were a superior unit and won the battle for the loose ball.
Preece was dangerous with his driving play and frequently broke the advantage line.
The Southern scrum was also strong with the front row of Scott Herriot, Jed Vercoe and Warren Moffat giving Southern the advantage.
The line-out was the only area where the students had the edge, through the skill of Hoani Matenga and Dan Hellebrekers.
The students made five takes off the Southern throws.
First five-eighth Chris Noakes, with his skilled tactical kicking and his wide vision, was the best of the student backs, while Andrew Parata used his strength to break the first line of the Southern defence.
Julius Glasson, the skilled Southern first five-eighth, scored the only try of the game when he came in wide and at pace to break the defence from a scrum inside the 22m.
That gave Southern a 7-0 lead after 16 minutes of play.
Southern led 7-3 at the break and busy halfback Joe Burford added a penalty goal in the second spell.
Noakes kicked two penalty goals for the students.
University A leads the Gallaway Trophy competition on 41 points and is followed by Dunedin 36, Southern 35, Alhambra-Union 35, Harbour 34, Pirates 24, Green Island 15, Zingari-Richmond 15, Kaikorai 15 and Taieri 12.
Southern 10 (Julius Glasson try; Joe Burford conversion, penalty goal), University A 6 (Chris Noakes 2 penalty goals).
Half-time: 7-3.
Referee: Doug Rodgers.
