League: Raiders score 18 tries as they top ton against Warlords

The Winton Warlords will wish they had stayed at home after being smashed by the South Pacific Raiders 102-12 at the Oval yesterday.

The star of the day for the Raiders was fullback James Stevenson Wright, who scored two tries and kicked 14 conversions for 36 points.

He showed great incision into a Raiders backline that was simply too hot for the Warlords, and his goal-kicking was excellent as he missed only two attempts.

The Raiders scored 18 tries to two in their victory, with winger Reece Vaitupu bagging four and stand-off Rema Smith scoring three.

Smith was a handful for the Warlords all day.

He showed blinding speed off the mark, and was given too much space by a team that showed enterprise on attack but was simply awful on defence.

The Warlords scored two good first-half tries to second-rower Jarod Kilmore and centre George Folau, but the Raiders scored nine and the game was effectively over when they went into halftime leading 50-12.

The Raiders just cruised in the second half.

They showed some great movement of the ball and their big forward pack was too strong across the park as they piled on a further 52 points.

Raiders prop Ron Muliau and hooker Simon Fuatavai were the pick of a dominant forward effort while Smith and Stevenson-Wright stood out in a good backline.

University turned on its trademark fast-paced game when it travelled to Invercargill and beat Southland's top-ranked team, Wakatipu-He Tauaa 44-4 on a bog-ridden field.

It scored eight tries to two and showed great defensive resolve, especially in the first 10 minutes, when it held out Wakatipu-He Tauaa which was camped on its goal line.

University went on to score 24 unanswered points in the first half with tries to fullback Grant Milne (2), hooker Tom Ellery and second-rower Shawn Gielen. Allwere converted by halfback Antony Stadnyk.

University continued to play the game at pace in the second half and its players made good metres from dummy-half scoots.

Ellery was excellent at this. He had the opposition guessing every time he got the ball and this created space for his backline to shift it quickly out wide.

University went on to score a further four second-half tries to prop David Hadcroft, winger Ryan Olsen, and the centre pairing of Ben Loughrey Webb and Matt Wainwright. Stadnyk kicked six of eight conversions.

Wakatipu-He Tauaa fullback Arvi Komene got his side on the board in the second half but they gave away too many silly penalties to stay in the game.

 

 

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