Club Rugby: Barbarians burst Woodlands' bubble in top-of-table clash
The Barbarians, Marist, and Pirates-Old Boys emerged from round seven of Southland's premier club rugby competition on Saturday as victors.
The Eastern-Northern Barbarians claimed the top-off-the-table bragging rights, Tevita Latu impressed as Marist continues to be the big improvers, while Pirates-Old Boys farewelled Matt James with a win over Star.
Logan Savory wraps up round seven of Southland’s premier club rugby competition.
The Eastern-Northern Barbarians racked up 24 second-half points to grab a 24-14 victory over Woodlands in the top-of-the-table clash at Gore on Saturday.
Woodlands made a rampant start to the season, and with both teams unbeaten heading into the game, it set up a much-anticipated showdown.
While the Barbarians had their moments in the first half, they couldn’t convert opportunities into points.
Meanwhile, Woodlands scored through Liam Shepherd in the 26th minute and led 7-0 at halftime.
Barbarians centre Ryan McFaul, fresh off his boxing debut, scored to lock the scores up at 7-7 before Rory van Vught crossed soon after for Woodlands.
The Barbarians then took charge, aided by their impressive bench and Jordan Maher’s accurate goal-kicking boot, as they went on to lock in the 24-14 victory.
Woodlands were missing some key troops, although Barbarians coach Bretton Taylor pointed out it too was without a trio of key players, including the inform Angus Simmers who has a turf toe problem.
“It was a test of the depth of both sides, and I was really happy with the way our bench came on and what they did yesterday. They made quite an impact,” Taylor said.
The Barbarians’ loose forward trio of Jacob Coghlan, Caine Taylor, and Leroy Ferguson again impressed on Saturday. All three are in the equation for Stags’ selection this season.
The experienced Marty McKenzie provided another glimpse of what he brings to the table for Woodlands, while Rory van Vugt was a key figure at fullback.
Tevita Latu has made a timely statement while playing the lead role in Marist’s crushing 53-14 victory over Midlands at Winton on Saturday.
The Stags midfielder has had a horror run of injuries in recent seasons and is again pushing for a place in the 2023 NPC setup.
He gave his chances a boost on Saturday through his showing against Midlands.
Marist player/coach Scott Eade said Latu was certainly at his destructive best.
“He was unstoppable at times [on Saturday],” Eade said.
“It was probably the most complete game I’ve seen him play since maybe his first season in the Stags.”
Latu’s good day out was helped by a Marist forward pack that is getting better week-by-week and made life difficult for Midlands.
Midlands went into the game on the back of a confidence-boosting victory over Star seven days earlier, but they struggled to match it with Marist on Saturday.
Marist led 29-0 at halftime and scored very early in the second half to make 36-0 and at that point, the game was done.
It was Marist’s third straight win after a horror start to its 2023 campaign, but Eade acknowledged it will be the next three weeks when they will get a true gauge of where they are.
Marist plays the competition’s leading three teams, the Eastern-Northern Barbarians, Woodlands, and Pirates-Old Boys, over the next three weeks. It starts with Pirates-Old Boys on Thursday night at Rugby Park.
Flanker Matt James has put a full stop on his short stint with the Pirates-Old Boys club - for now at least - as he heads to Western Australia for a rugby opportunity.
James made the shift to Southland from Canterbury four years ago where he linked with the Woodlands club and has been a key figure in the Stags setup during that time.
Although his time playing in Southland is up for the moment as he makes the shift to Western Australia.
James hasn’t been contracted for the 2023 NPC season with Hayden Michaels and Leroy Ferguson locked in as No 7 options at this point.
The 29-year-old joined Pirates-Old Boys this season and turned in a strong performance on Saturday against Star as the club farewelled him.
It wasn’t Pirates-Old Boys’ slickest performance, but they still had enough in the artillery to bank a comfortable 41-17 bonus-point victory over Star at Waverly Park in Invercargill.
As has been the case throughout this season, Pirates-Old Boys showed plenty in attack but got a little impatient at times when the game opened up.
They threw plenty at a committed Star defensive line in the first half and led 17-3 at halftime.
Star scored first in the second half to make it 17-10 before Star struggled to stay with Pirates-Old Boys for the remainder of the game.
First five-eighth Kaea Nikora-Balloch sparked things when he spotted a gap from a scrum close to Star’s line and put the foot down to head in to score.
Pirates-Old Boys then took charge scoring a further three tries, two of them to Napo Seru, two push out to that 41-17 victory.
Star is down on playing troops at the moment, but some help is on its way. It includes lock James Kora who has arrived in the province in an attempt to crack the Stags.
DIVISION ONE
Waikaka 29 - Wyndham 18
Edendale 47 - Drummond-Limehills-Star 20
Pioneer 68 - Albion 14
Tokanui 36 - Te Anau 25
DIVISION TWO
(CJ Soper Memorial)
Bluff 34 - Waikiwi 29
Riverton 27 - Waiau Star 17
Ohai-Nightcaps=Otautau 50 - Bush Pirates 6
*Pioneer a bye
Life Members Trophy
Marist 36 - Midlands 25
Star 35 - Pirates Old Boys 29
Wakatipu 24 - Woodlands 15
*Blues a bye
SENIOR WOMEN
Pioneer 31 - Albion 24
Marist 27 - Midlands 10