Club Rugby: 'I've never been more proud'
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Logan Savory wraps up the action from week five of Southland club rugby.
Star coach Brayden Mitchell concedes there was a moment on Thursday when the nasty thought of having to default crossed his mind.
On the day of his team’s Thursday night game against Pirates-Old Boys, Star had mustered just 14 players.
Another 14 players from Star’s premier squad were unavailable for various reasons.
“Everything was all over the show. I’m not one to go out and default, but it was something that crossed my mind, I’ll give you the tip.” Mitchell said.
A group of the club’s B team answered the SOS, backing up after their own outing against Pirates-Old Boys 24 hours earlier. Star managed to pull together 20 players, although without any prop reserves.
Getting a team on the park was a success in itself, but the winless bottom-of-the-table Star then went about knocking over the unbeaten top-of-the-table Pirates-Old Boys.
Star won 15-12 in a game that was far from fluent. However, the reaction at the fulltime whistle suggested the Star players weren’t fazed that some onlookers might have declared it a less than desirable spectacle.
“We got a bloody gutsy win, and I couldn’t have been prouder of the boys,” Mitchell said.
“I said to the boys, I’ve never been more proud coaching a team in my life. For us to go out there with our backs against the wall, not winning a game all year, it was unbelievable.
“It wasn’t a nice win, but it was an ugly, gritty, old school, roll up your sleeves win.”
The likes of looseforwards Zyon Walters and Dylan Lovett led that grit in defence, while 18-year-old Sam Mustchin continues to prove to be an impressive pick up for Star.
Mustchin is a midfielder, but stepped in at first five-eighth in the win over Pirates-Old Boys.
Last year Rugby Southland Pathways Manager Scott Eade came across Mustchin playing for St Andrew’s College in Christchurch.
Mustchin decided to link with Rugby Southland’s academy and originally had made the shift to study in Dunedin. He was going to play his club rugby there.
However, Mustchin had a change of mind. The Highlanders U20s representative moved to Invercargill three weeks ago and linked with Star.
“For a young kid, he is very level-headed, and he’s got a good footy brain on him for such a young kid. He is very talented as well,” Mitchell said.
Southland’s premier competition is now taking a small break through to April 30, and that could not come at a better time for Star as they hope to bring some reinforcements into the fold in the coming weeks.
Stags hooker Nic Souchon might be one of them, as well as probably Star’s biggest attacking threat, wing Hughan Sharp, who has been out with a rib injury, should be another.
Pirates-Old Boys were also down on troops on Thursday night, with their key game drivers Greg Dyer and Kaea Nikora-Balloch both sidelined.
One of Pirates-Old Boys’ strengths is its propping depth, and that was somewhat nullified late against Star when at the 63-minute mark the game went to uncontested scrums after Star prop Kelfler Morrison was forced from the field, and Star did not have any replacement props.
Blues celebrated a couple of club legends in appropriate style at the Les George Oval on Thursday night.
Frontrowers Ben Soper and Jeremy Borland’s 100th game for Blues was marked with a 24-12 upset victory over the Eastern-Northern Barbarians.
It was yet another reminder that the 2025 Blues team is a much different outfit from the winless 2024 version.
In their milestone games, Soper and Borland were handed one of the tougher frontrow assignments in Southland club rugby - a showdown against a Barbarians pack led by Stags tighthead prop Morgan Mitchell.
Just twelve days earlier Blues were dispatched by the Barbarians 37-21 in Gore, but on Thursday night, it was Blues who got the job done 24-12 after leading 17-5 at halftime.
Blues coach James Wilson was delighted to get another crack at the Barbarians so soon.
“It was fresh in our memory, and we knew where we went wrong there. To be fair, it was quite an easy fix for us.
“It was basically to improve our carries, body height to contact. They are a good defensive side, and basically to do it for 80 minutes,” Wilson said.
“I just thought the boys were physically up for it.”
It is the physicality stakes where Blues have probably seen their biggest improvement in 2025. They have used midfielders Kelepi Holi and Jay Naqianivalu’s strong carrying ability well.
Naqianivalu has previously played in the looseforwards but is now being used at centre for Blues.
Add to that the injection of some attacking talent, in the form of fullback Brad Kooman, and Blues have come up with a competitive formula.
Wilson paid tribute to Soper and Borland’s performances in their 100th games on Thursday night.
“They fronted up for 80 minutes. We needed that from them to be able to compete,” Wilson said.
Woodlands has joined Pirates-Old Boys at the top of the premier standings following its bonus-point victory over Marist at Woodlands on Thursday night.
Marist opened the scoring with a Te Hura Wilson penalty but that was the only point in the game when the visitors held the lead.
Woodlands led 13-3 at halftime before racking up four second-half tries to push out to the 39-13 victory.
The game kicked off at 7.45pm and the dewy conditions at times proved difficult, which made Woodlands’ six-tries-to-two victory that bit more encouraging for them.
Defensively, Woodlands was sound throughout most of the night with Marist’s two tries coming inside the last 10 minutes.
Midfielder Fletcher Morgan delivered another good shift at second five-eighth as he continues to prove to be a handy pick-up for Woodlands.
Morgan has previously featured for Thames Valley at the Heartland Championship level and earned selection in the New Zealand Heartland XV.
Lock Alex Yallop, who is pushing for Stags selection, was another key performer for Woodlands, as was prop Bryan Tyrrell, who scored a good try.
Like many of the premier teams, Woodlands coach Richard Jones said the looming wee break now had come at a good time.
“We got through unscathed [on Thursday night] and had a couple of guys who didn’t play. But we are getting close to a full squad now, so you can get a bit of competition for spots. But it is week by week,” Jones said.
CLUB RUGBY
(Premier Men)
Star 15, Pirates-Old Boys 12
Blues 24, EN Barbarians 12
Woodlands 39, Marist 13
(Premier Women)
Star 66, Pioneer 0
Marist/Midlands 40, Blues 10
(Division One)
Albion 34, Tokanui 18
Waikaka/Riversdale 31, Te Anau 5
Wyndham 13, Edendale 10
Bluff 22, Pioneer 14
(Division Two)
Pirates-Old Boys 13, Star 12
Collegiate 13, Wright's Bush 11
Waiau Star 50, Mataura 5
Marist 25, Woodlands 24
Midlands 34, Waikiwi 24
Riverton 62, Otautau/Ohai Nightcaps 11
Drummond-Limehills-Star 19, Central Pirates 7
Mossburn 15, Wakatipu 14