Rugby: Attack pleases, defence disappoints

Mika Mafi was one of a handful of players to put his hand up for a spot in the Otago squad for the upcoming ITM Cup season yesterday.

Otago coach Cory Brown singled out the No 8's performance in the Sassenachs' 51-28 win against the Spartans, a shadow Southland team, after the match at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Brown, who will name his full Otago squad later in the week, also gave winger Jack Wilson and centre Jayden Spence special mention.

''I thought Mafi had a really good first 40 minutes,'' Brown said.

''He had a lot of involvement. Jack Wilson looked strong and powerful and linked well with Tony Ensor, and Spence also played really well.''

The Sassenachs, who beat Mid Canterbury 41-15 a couple of weeks ago, ran in seven tries to four against the Spartans.

In an open match where both sides were at times found wanting defensively, the Sassenachs needed less than a minute to open the scoring.

Halfback Josh Renton made a 30m break down the short side, before lock Blair Tweed barged over out wide.

Pivot Peter Breen made it 8-0 a few minutes later with a penalty goal, before impressive Spartans midfielder Willis Halaholo caught the home side napping down the short side with the first of his two tries.

However, Sassenachs second five eighth Tei Walden went straight through some feeble tackling to put his side 15-7 up midway through the first half.

Ensor and Renton scored further tries to make it 29-14 at halftime.

The match lost a bit of shape in the second half, but the home side still managed to run in three more tries to complete the convincing win.

''I thought there was some really encouraging moments on attack,'' Brown said.

''We lacked a little bit of accuracy or control at times, but there was some really good stuff. The step up from club rugby to that probably caught a few people out.''

Brown said the match was about looking at individual skills and getting a few combinations working, but he was disappointed with the defence, which allowed a few soft tries.

''Coaches always look at the negative. I suppose some of the defensive lapses caught us out a bit _ so we've got a bit of work to do there.

''I think there was a bit of fatigue involved in that. In club rugby, you might be able to get away with switching off for a bit. But when you play at a higher level, as soon as you switch off teams exploit it,'' he said.

Otago will play preseason games against Tasman in Dunedin on Saturday and Southland in Riverton next Wednesday. Its ITM Cup opener is against Canterbury at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 15.


Sassenachs v Spartans
The scores

Otago Sassenachs 51
Blair Tweed, Tei Walden, Tony Ensor, Josh Renton, Jack Wilson, Adam Knight, Aleki Morris tries; Peter Breen, 2 pen, 5 con

Spartans 28
Willis Halaholo 2, Jamie Verran, Ben Crawford tries; Ash Moeke 2 con, WJ Strydom 1 con, Verran 1 con.

Halftime: 29-14.


Three players who put a hand up for an Otago jersey

Mika Mafi was all over the paddock in the first half. In addition to running hard with ball in hand, he made a few bruising hits defensively. He also almost scored a 50m try from an intercept, but was dragged down short.

Jack Wilson stood out with a strong game on the left wing. As well as scoring a second half try, he set up Tony Ensor's try after breaking out and dishing a superb offload as he hit the deck.

Lock Blair Tweed opened the scoring for his side within the first minute of the match, but did not stop working there. The Zingari Richmond player was effective in the lineout and worked tirelessly around the paddock.


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