Eastern Northern Barbarians earned a come-from-behind 34-30 win at Woodlands in the feature match.
Woodlands led 20-0 at halftime, but some strong words during the break were well received by the Barbarians group and the fightback was on.
The introduction of three 2024 Stags squad members from the reserve bench also helped swing the momentum in the visitors’ favour. Lock Woody Kirkwood, openside flanker Leroy Ferguson and halfback Connor Collins helped change the game.
Barbarians coach AJ Aitken said the team got straight into their work after the resumption.
"The boys played a basic style of rugby. We played for territory and scored the points from there."
Aiken said Woodlands kept fighting until the end.
"We were defending the last five or six minutes and they did score another converted try to earn a bonus point.
"It was a great win for us. Cogs [Jacob Coghlan] was huge, he hooked into it. Woody has a huge presence and our replacement prop Mykel Sleeman had a great second half."
Halfback Collins and fullback Tayler Peterson were the best of the backs.
Barbarians scored four tries to three and Peterson kicked four conversions and two penalty goals.
This was the second close loss in a row for Woodlands, but they still hold second spot ahead of Barbarians and Marist with two rounds remaining.
The Barbarians are scheduled to play Pirates Old Boys in Te Anau this Saturday.
Pirates Old Boys beat Blues 44-27 at Balmoral Drive, while Star was beaten on their home ground 39-22 by Marist.
• Tokanui had a 30-24 win at home against Albion. Centre Morgan Lawton, lock Jack Cochrane and prop Ro’o Poaru tried hard for Albion.
• Wyndham won at home against Edendale 29-17. A clinical first half from Wyndham was enough to shut out the Magpies in a physical encounter.
A penalty try was among the four tries for Wyndham. Man of the match was Wyndham lock Jack Allison. Wing Logan Dobbie and blindside flanker Nathan Bee also played well and deserved their tries.
Edendale’s best were lock Jake Anderson, Cole Williams and Kody Crump.
• The game between Bluff and Pioneer did not go ahead.
This week
Edendale will host Tokanui at 6.30pm on Thursday, while on Saturday afternoon Albion and Pioneer clash at the Showgrounds, the Vikings travel down to Wyndham and Te Anau will host Bluff.
Mataura was beaten on their home turf 33-12 by POB B in their division three match. The team is at Tulloch Park again this Saturday to play Waiau Star.
In the women’s competition Albion were beaten 43-7 by the competition favourites, Star. The girls played well in patches, especially No.8 Georgia Holland, blindside Milly Corcoran and fullback Libby Miller.
The Albion women will host the Marist-Midlands team in a semifinal at 1.15pm on Saturday.
Pioneer women beat Blues 19-15. The outcome of this game decided who will play the semifinal this Saturday against Star at 1.15pm at Waverley Park.
Pioneer’s try-scoring openside flanker Libby Templeton was awarded player of the day for her strong ball-carries and good support play. Midfielder Kendall Holland and blindside flanker Emma Adams were two more key players in a good team performance.
Hera Black was also a force in the midfield with her fearless tackles and hard carries.
By John Langford
