Otago Country became the inaugural holders of the new Donaghy’s Shield when they beat Southland Country 26-7 in Owaka on Saturday.
The Otago Country tight five dominated, led by prop Ben Millar, who scrummaged well, carried strongly and was always on hand to clean out a sloppy ruck.
Locks Josh Young and Damian Wilson competed well at the lineout, and No8 Conor Lawson carried well for the duration.
First five George Williams made sound decisions and worked nicely on defence, while Jonny Sargent found gaps in the midfield and nabbed several turnovers.
Southland Country offered plenty with ball in hand but battled to win their own scrum and pierce the defence.
Hooker Liam Ferguson and locks Harry McCallum and Brenton Howden put in solid shifts, while No8 Ben Hill carried strongly and broke the advantage line.
Southland Country opened the scoring inside the first five minutes, capitalising on a mistake to send fullback Rowan McKenzie over the line out wide.
Otago Country then began to set their forward platform, and a turnover close to the line gave them an attacking scrum from which Lawson rumbled over.
Otago Country’s dominance at scrum time was the difference in the first half as they won regular tightheads and penalties.
This dominance allowed the home side to play in the right areas of the field and build pressure.
The forwards sucked in defenders, leaving overlaps out wide which they capitalised on twice through tries to lock Damian Wilson and winger Ryan Egerton, both set up by fullback Doug Smith, as Otago Country led 19-7 at the break.
Southland Country asked plenty of questions of the Otago Country defence in the second half but were let down by errors and more scrum penalties.
Both sides, in fact, left tries on the field in the second half through key errors or strong defence from their opponents.
The game opened up as both benches were emptied and the ball was given plenty of air.
Otago Country continued to dominate the scrum, even with their replacements, and they scored the only try of the half through Williams, who capped off a strong individual performance and a dominant team effort.
Representative rugby
The scores
Otago Country 26
Ryan Egerton, Conor Lawson, Damian Wilson, George Williams tries; Williams 3 con
Southland Country 7
Rowan McKenzie try; Jordy Smith con
Halftime: Otago Country 19-7.
— Francis Parker
