The half an hour of Southland rugby never seen before
Southland turned in a half an hour of rugby never seen since Southland teams started chasing around an oval ball in the 1880s.
Southland 59 (Jack Taylor 3, Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa 2, Lachie Albert, Rory van Vugt, Faletoi Peni, Jake Strachan tries; Byron Smith 7 con), North Harbour 35 (Bryn Hall, Mark Tele’a, James Little, Bryn Gordon, Samuel Slade tries; Tane Edmed 5 con). HT: 47-7.
Tribune MVP Points: Semisi Tupou Ta’ealoa 3, Jack Taylor 2, Michael Manson 1.
Overall Points: Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa 14, Sean Withy 9, Isaac Te Tamaki 7, Michael Manson 6, Dylan Nel 5, Blair Ryall 5, Morgan Mitchell 4, Mitchell Dunshea 3, Viliami Fine 2, Hayden Michaels 2, Jack Taylor 2, Rory van Vugt 1, Lachlan Albert 1.
There was a moment at about 5pm on the sunny Saturday afternoon in Invercargill where many Stags fans were waiting to be woken from a bizarre dream.
The Stags turned in half an hour of rugby never seen since Southland teams started chasing around an oval ball in the 1880s.
The Stags led 40-0 after 28 minutes on the back of six tries. Three of them come via hooker Jack Taylor.
Yes, you read that right - that happened.
Never has the Rugby Park scoreboard - or Bekhuis Park on this occasion - been photographed as much as it was at the 29th-minute mark on Saturday and then again at halftime.
Many fans wanted to capture the moment in time that may never be repeated as Southland went 47-7 up at halftime in a first division game.
Southland’s onslaught was somewhat halted in the second half as they pushed on to a 59-35 victory. But the reality is the damage had well and truly been done.
There were also sorts of records broken on Saturday - not just Bekhuis’ 144th cap for Southland.
The 59 points were the most scored by a Southland team in the first division. The nine tries were also a record for Southland in the first division, as was Byron Smith’s seven conversions.
Taylor also became the first Stags forward to score a hat-trick in an NPC first division.
It was all produced against a North Harbour team that six days earlier put 65 points on Canterbury.
The 2024 NPC is a crazy competition, and if you haven’t embraced it, you are missing out.
For Stags coach Matt Saunders the Saturday rugby massacre, never seen before in Invercargill, was somewhat bitter-sweet.
Saunders was a happy man watching what was delivered on Saturday but frustrated they hadn’t showcased that throughout the season.
“It’s strange, it shows what we are capable of. I’m so stoked for Lurch [Josh Bekhuis], Isaac [Te Tamaki], and Kaea [Nikora Balloch], but then I wonder why we waited until the last game to do that.
“It just shows what we can do, there was some great footy. Tinny’s [James Wilson] attack has grown throughout the year, and it was top quality today.”
Saunders suggested there was a perfect mixture that led to the 40-point onslaught early in the game. It was partly on the back of North Harbour not fronting, while the Stags on the flipside were on point with their energy and execution.
“Everything stuck, and we just had one of those days. We prepared well, but we had prepared well every week, so I don’t think there was much different there,” Saunders said.
Saunders felt for the majority of the season they have been as good as opposition teams but just haven’t been able to finish opportunities or have big defensive sets for long enough.
“Yes, we can beat anyone on our day, but it is really hard to have to have that day week in and week out. Where the teams just front up, play as good and give it to some guys to score some tries just through their pure ability.”
Stags fans will now have to wait another 300 days or so to get their NPC fix with the 2024 season done for Southland.
What fantastic scenes yesterday! So proud of this team and management (very clearly a happy team with a great culture and work ethic) who thoroughly deserved this performance through their hard work and efforts throughout the entire year. Now the challenge for RS (after a well-earned break) is to keep the bulk of this squad and grow it so that next season is builds on this and gets back into playoff footy. Up the mighty Stags!! Thanks Savs for your fantastic coverage of the Stags throughout the season!
Congratulations Stags from Philippines.