Sav's Sidelines: Southland Boys’ hold on Moascar Cup continues
Sav's Sidelines - the weekly column that looks at all things Southland rugby, from the grassroots to the professional game.
In this week’s Sav’s Sidelines column Logan Savory declares the current Stags jersey the best yet, he highlights which selection might be the most intriguing for the Stags come round one, shines a light on a star of a Sky Sport documentary who is now having a crack at the Stags, plus he covers off Southland Boys’ sixth Moascar Cup defence.
Southland Boys’ hold on Moascar Cup continues…
Southland Boys’ High School will take the prestigious Moascar Cup on the road and put it on the line against John McGlashan College in Dunedin on Saturday.
It will be Southland Boys’ seventh defence of the Moascar Cup since winning it at the national top 4 tournament last year.
The sixth challenge was on Saturday when Southland Boys’ produced a 33-0 victory over South Otago High School in Invercargill.
The 33-0 win included a hat-trick of tries to skillful fullback Jimmy Taylor - the younger brother of Stags hooker Jack Taylor.
Taylor scored in the 5th and 17th minute as Southland Boys’ held a 12-0 halftime lead. They went on to score a further three second half tries which included Taylor’s third.
The Moascar Cup is the oldest and most prestigious nationwide trophy in First XV rugby in New Zealand.
The Cup dates back to the end of World War One, when British, New Zealand and Australian soldiers camped at Moascar in Ismaila, Egypt and formed the Ismaila Rugby Union as they waited for ships to take them home.
They then organised a cup, which they mounted on a piece of wooden propeller from a shot down German aircraft.
Over 100 years on from the end of the war it is still played for.
The holders of Moascar Cup at the start of any calendar year have to schedule a minimum of seven challenge matches for that year. All home games must be Moascar Cup challenges.
Documentary star turned Stag hopeful…
If you enjoy your grassroots footy I’d suggest you take a look at the We the South documentary which Sky Sport together. (Link below to documentary).
It’s the fairytale story of the Manukau Rovers winning the Auckland premier club title in 2022 - against all odds - for the first time in 49 years.
But for Southland rugby followers the added interest is that the star of that documentary - Faletoi Peni - is now in Southland having a crack at playing for the Stags.
The Rovers also went back-to-back in 2023 and Peni played a lead role in both those victories. He was named Auckland’s club player of the year in both 2022 and 2023 and earlier this year was named in Auckland’s ‘NPC contenders’ squad but hasn’t made the cut.
Peni has joined Southland for the preseason as a ‘development player’ in the wider Stags squad.
“He has had a few struggles here and there and he has just come down for a month and he has worked extremely hard since he has been here,” Stags coach Matt Saunders said.
“He has just got a bit of work to do conditioning-wise and he is doing everything he can.”
Peni played about 30 minutes at second five-eighth for the Stags in the preseason game against Otago in Gore on Friday.
He was direct and carried the ball strongly, although Saunders pointed out he wasn’t just a crash-bash type player.
“That’s not his main asset, his main asset is his skillset - an unbelievably skilled rugby player. He just needs to keep working hard and good things will happen for him.”
Young bull or experienced campaigner?…
Just who wears the Stags No 8 jersey in round one of the 2024 NPC competition looms as a welcomed headache for the Southland coaching group.
Twenty-year-old Semisi Tupou Taeiloa played a lead role in helping Star to a Galbraith Shield title this season and there is hope the youngster will carry that into the NPC season.
On Friday we might have been provided an answer to that question.
Tupou Taeiloa was arguably the Stags’ best in the preseason outing against Otago in Gore.
The former New Zealand U19 player produced a powerful 40 minutes carrying the ball strongly but also produced some nice passing touches.
With the experienced Dylan Nel in the Stags mix again it seemed likely Tupou Taeiloa would again probably spend much of 2024 as an impact man off the bench.
But he might be wasted being restricted to 20 minutes or so late in games given what the young bull can offer.
Stags coach Matt Saunders acknowledged there was some added pressure around the No 8 position with what Tupou Taeiloa has been producing.
“He has been nailing everything over the last few months and I know he is ready to go. What do you do? He is going to put a lot of heat on.
“He is great off the bench but if he can do that for 50-60 minutes and batter teams…. Look he adds to the equation, we know he is ready.”
Tupou Ta’eiloa attended Otago Boys’ High School and was part of the Otago academy on a development contract before last year opting to sign a four-year deal with the Stags. It started with the 2023 NPC season.
He played nine games last year with eight of those coming off the bench.
How good is the 2024 jersey?
The crew at Paladin and Rugby Southland have nailed it when it comes to the 2024 Southland Stags jersey. It’s the best yet in my 35-odd years following Southland rugby.
I’m a sucker for a bit of historical presence when it comes to sporting uniforms. The 2024 Southland jersey is as close as you will get [in the modern era] to the same jersey that Brian McKechnie wore when he kicked the winning conversion to beat France at Rugby Park in 1979.
Or the same jersey that Leicester Rutledge wore when Southland beat Australia 10-7 a year before in 1978.
Yes, the material in 2024 is different, and the jersey is now a walking billboard for the all-important sponsors who deserve that recognition, although this year’s jersey is a simplistic nod to the past with it dominated by maroon and having a white collar.
If you look really closely at the sleeve and collar of the current jersey there is also a very small nod to all of the maroon, gold, and blue colours used in Southland jerseys over the years.
I’ll admit, up until just recently, I never could work out what was behind the introduction of blue into the Stags jersey in the 1990s and beyond.
However, thanks to Rugby Southland’s commercial and marketing manager Jack King I’ve been provided a history lesson that I’m embarrassed I didn’t already know this.
Navy blue was actually one of the province’s original colours before the committee’s wives voted on a change to maroon as it was fashionable at the time.
So, blue did have some relevance to the past, but give me the 2024 jersey any day.
By all accounts, Southland traditionally leads the way in jersey sales in the NPC and I’ve got a feeling the 2024 version might also be a hit with the fans.
It’s not the jersey but what’s inside the jersey