Club Rugby: Manson’s sickening end to Blues cameo
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Logan Savory wraps up the action from week 10 of Southland club rugby.
Highlanders wing Michael Manson’s Southland club rugby cameo ended in sickening fashion on Saturday.
Despite the Highlanders being forced to make many changes in their outside back department in recent weeks, Manson hasn’t featured since the loss to the Force in Perth on April 5.
A not-so-flash defensive read in that game appears to have put Manson in coach Jamie Joseph’s bad books.
The electric wing has instead been playing for Green Island in Dunedin club rugby.
But with Green Island having the bye on Saturday, Manson took the opportunity to line up for his Blues club in Southland against Star.
It was his first appearance for Blues since the 2023 season when Manson racked up a remarkable 25 tries.
His presence on Saturday would have had Star on notice, but Manson’s game was cut short when his head appeared to have collected the hip of a Star player while Manson was attempting to make a tackle late in the first half.
It knocked Manson out, and the blow was that nasty it required a trip to hospital for further monitoring.
Manson is expected to spend some time on the sidelines as he counts down to an important season with the Southland Stags starting in August.
It was a tough day out on a couple of fronts for Blues as the 38-19 loss to Star shuffled Blues out of the top four in the competition standings after a strong start to the season.
It was third time lucky for Star, after losing twice to Blues earlier in the season.
Blues have battled in recent weeks, and that flowed into the first half against Star when Star ran in six tries to lead 31-0 at halftime in a dominant performance.
To Blues’ credit, they did show some second half fight to outscore Star in the second half with three tries in the eventual 38-19 loss.
Saturday was a pretty emotional one for the Marist Rugby Club’s premier team for a couple of reasons.
The team has had to deal with the aftermath of the unimaginable pain following the shock death of its assistant coach Regan Wilson a fortnight ago.
On Saturday, the team returned to the playing field for the first time when it took on the Eastern-Northern Barbarians at Miller St in Invercargill.
The two teams joined together in a moment of silence before kick-off.
That was after a legend of the Marist club - Keanu Kahukura - led the team onto the field as he brought up his 150th game in the green and black jersey.
The outside back has been an integral figure for Marist for well over a decade, leading it to Galbraith Shield titles.
Kahukura also played 23 games for the Stags from 2012 through to 2016.
On Saturday, Kahukura and his teammates went about producing a performance that put a smile on the faces of the Marist faithful during what has otherwise been a tough time.
It took just two minutes for Marist to open the scoring against the Barbarians when hard-running looseforward Jackson Bevin fielded the ball off a 5m lineout and barrelled over to score.
It took until the 28th minute for the next scoring when Barbarians hooker Liam Ferguson scored the first of his two tries.
Ferguson’s second try came just four minutes later as the Barbarians went up 12-7.
Scott Eade added a penalty for Marist on the stroke of halftime to make it 12-10 at the break.
Eade then added two further penalties in the 42nd minute and the 60th minute to push Marist to a 16-12 lead.
When powerful Marist second five-eighth Michael Moodie crashed over in the 75th minute to push it out to 23-12, the Barbarians looked done.
Well, that wasn’t the case.
Wing Banuve Dretiverata - the Barbarians’ biggest attacking threat - produced a bit of individual brilliance to scoot away to score to pull it back 23-19.
There was just enough time on the clock for the restart, and Dretiverata then found himself in the clear again and looked like he might head for a second in a matter of minutes before being hauled in.
Marist then held on to for the deserved victory.
Marist had some strong performers across the park, but Bevin was one of its best in the looseforwards and Moodie also carried the ball well.
Eade’s ability to steer his team around the park with his boot proved vital.
Greg Dyer has delivered another general kicking masterclass, leading Pirates-Old Boys to a 31-12 victory in the top of the table clash against Woodlands on Saturday.
The experienced first five-eighth won the aerial ping pong like kicking battle, with support from fullback Kaea Nikora-Balloch.
Pirates-Old Boys were forced to do a lot of defending in the first half against a determined Woodlands team, but the home team was unable to capitalise with any points.
It took until the 38th minute of the first half for the first points of the game when Pirates-Old Boys No 8 Hayden Hegerty scored from a strong pick and go close to the line.
Lock Craig Smith and wing Isaac Rounds then scored in the second half to push it out to 19-0 before Woodlands registered their first points through a Ateria Sousou try.
But Pirates-Old Boys were not about to let Wooodlands back into the contest as they dotted down twice more through Duston Coveney and Napo Seru to push it out to 31-7.
Woodlands did have the last say with a Brian Tyrell try, but by that stage, the damage had been done.
Pirates-Old Boys coach Dayna Cunningham said it was a quality game from both teams, and he was pleased to pick up that result.
“It was a good game of rugby, but I felt we probably won the kicking battle overall,” Cunningham said.
Woodlands were missing some key figures, including backs Flecther Morgan, Sean Howlett, and Tauasosi Tuimavave.
Marty McKenzie, who played against Pirates-Old Boys earlier in the season, was also missing.
It meant usual looseforward Justin Shaw was moved into the second five-eighth role on Saturday.
Pirates-Old Boys were also missing some key figures including centre Jaye Thompson, although Nick Munro stepped in at centre and did a good job.
Pirates-Old Boys were boosted with the availability of New Zealand U20s hooker Sean Kempton. Kempton played the full 80 minutes against Woodlands, starting at hooker before moving into the looseforwards.
The win means Pirates-Old Boys sit top of the standings with a wee gap on second-placed Woodlands.
(Premier Women)
Albion 36, Marist/Midlands 17
Star 66, Pioneer 10
Blues 32, Wakatipu 22
(Division One)
Edendale 64, Te Anau 5
Pioneer 25, Tokanui 17
Wyndham 31, Albion 20
Bluff 29, Waikaka/Riversdale 29
(Division Two)
Marist 26, Otautau-Ohai-Nightcaps 25
Waikiwi 45, Woodlands 10
Mossburn 38, Drummond-Limehills-Star 15
Riverton 38, Blues 12,
(Division Three)
Pirates-Old Boys 48, Wright’s Bush 0
Central Pirates 20, Star 17
Wakatipu 56, Mataura 0
Waiau Star 47, Collegiate 7
(President’s Grade/Senior Cs)
Albion 24, Wyndham 22
Waikaka 19, Pirates-Old Boys 17
Waikaia 32, Pioneer 22
Balfour-Lumsden 53, Mataura 0