A round up of semifinal division 1 club rugby games played in Dunedin at the weekend.
Kaikorai 13
Southern 10
The division 1 semifinal at Bathgate Park was a tough, bruising encounter with no quarter given by either side. Both defences were staunch and close to impenetrable in a war of attrition.
Kaikorai started well and held the ball for numerous phases in the first spell but could not score through the defence and had too many handling errors.
Winger Rico Fisher was bundled out in the corner, and midfielder Jake Fowler lost the ball in the tackle close to the line.
Southern finally got into Kaikorai’s 22m after 17 minutes, and after the forwards tried to rumble over on four occasions, Mackenzie Palmer flung the ball wide to winger Justin Malifa to score, probably against the run of play.
Southern were starting to dominate the ruck and ever-present flanker Harry Taylor forced three or four turnovers to stifle Kaikorai attacks.
Finally, as the clock wound down to halftime, Kaikorai camped in the Southern 22m and first five Ben Miller breached the defence on the blind, and the game was deadlocked at the break.
The Kaikorai pack started to gain control in the second half at scrum and lineout time, as the big Southern forwards started to tire, but again could not crack the defence.
Then came a mirror of the first spell as Southern had a period on attack and Palmer again found Malifa out wide to give the Magpies a five-point lead after 20 minutes of the spell.
This galvanised Kaikorai and they hammered away at the Southern line for an interminable period before Jake Fowler crashed over to tie it up after 27 minutes.
Kaikorai went back on to the attack and their forwards pounded away at the Southern line but could not get over due to heroic defence.
They bizarrely turned down two kickable penalties in that period before forcing a 5m scrum and decimating the Southern pack, and Miller made no mistake with the handy penalty to give them a three-point lead.
Southern stormed back on to attack in the dying minutes but the Kaikorai defence held and they ran down the clock for the deserved victory.
No 8 Lucas Casey was Kaikorai’s best. He was strong at the breakdown and his offloading game was superb. Miller’s kicking game was on song and he kept his team in the right spots on the field.
It was similar for Southern. Flanker Harry Taylor was their best as he won lineouts, forced turnovers and led their defence. Palmer was their best back, setting up their two tries and kicking well with the tricky breeze.
— Paul Dwyer
Harbour 15
Taieri 10
Intercepting a pass in the final five minutes, Harbour openside flanker Toni Taufa set his team up for a hard-fought 15-10 semifinal victory at Watson Park.
With Taieri leading 10-8 and appearing to be in control as the clock counted down, Taufa turned the game on its head when he gathered in a laboured pass intended for Taieri first five Cameron Millar only to be r reined in just 5m short of scoring.
Seventeen phases of play later, Harbour halfback Nathan Hastie cracked the stern Taieri defence when he sniped around a stack of forwards for the five-pointer.
Rique Miln, the season’s leading point-scorer, made no mistake with the conversion despite falling backwards on the sludgy surface as he made contact.
The game was the third of three epic encounters between the two sides this season, with Harbour winning the first by just two points and Taieri the second by three.
Saturday’s semifinal mirrored the first two as both packs battled for control and the heavy ground conditions made for a hard slog.
Taufa and blindside flanker Taylor Dale along with front-rowers Ben Fakataha, Gabriel Francesconi and Darius Fidow proved quite mobile and provided Hastie with quality service.
While conditions were not ideal for the Harbour backs, veteran winger Waisake Naholo posed a constant threat out wide. He scored Harbour’s first try after multiple phases from the forward pack took the Hawks a good 30m upfield. When the ball finally went wide, Naholo dived over in the corner in the clutches of three defenders.
With Harbour reduced to 14 players heading into the break, Naholo’s try-saving tackle denied Taieri a chance to extend their 7-5 lead at the time.
Second five Caleb Leef was the pick of the Taieri backs. He carved a gap upfield in the 10th minute that led to lock Eric Peita scoring. He continued to be menacing with ball in hand and tigerish on defence.
The Taieri pack held their own in a classic forward-dominated clash, inspired by flankers Tom Bolton and Riley Allen, along with hooker Brady Robertson.
— Wayne Parsons
Division 1 semifinals
The scores
Harbour 15 (Waisake Naholo, Nathan Hastie tries; Rique Miln con, Hastie pen).
Taieri 10 (Eric Peita try; Cameron Millar con. pen).
Halftime: Taieri 7-5.
Kaikorai 13 (Ben Miller, Jake Fowler tries; Miller pen).
Southern 10 (Justin Malifa 2 tries).
Halftime: 5-5.
