There were plenty of tries in the second round of the southern club competition on Saturday.
The Invercargill Cowboys got their first win of the season and the Kia Toa Tigers ran rampant over the South Pacific Raiders.
It was a tough day at the office for the South Pacific Raiders. Coach David Reedy had to strap on the boots to make the minimum 10 players. The Kia Toa Tigers made Bayfield Park their own, capitalising on the three-man advantage, scoring three tries in the opening five minutes.
The Tigers continued their dominant display, putting 54 unanswered points on in the first half. The Raiders looked promising the few times they were on attack, but struggled to maintain possession of the football for long periods of play.
The resilient Raiders team played well considering the situation, but a try to the Tigers right on full time brought the final score to 88-4.
University made its second trip to Invercargill in two weeks, and the Cowboys did not make it an easy one. Club stalwart Nathan Anderson became the first Cowboy to play 100 games for the club.
Things were not looking good for University as the Cowboys ran in 22 unanswered points in the first 15 minutes. University fought well as Cam Todd and Te Marino Huriwai Briggs steadied the ship in the halves and brought University back into the game. Tyson Ball and Thomas McKenzie caused some headaches for the Cowboys' defence, but the students struggled to find their way over the line.
Dylan Lovett scored a try in his 50th game for the Cowboys and doubles to Brennan Sutherland and Joe Gillies completed a 32-12 win.
It was a rough start to the day for the Cooks, with seven players unavailable. Unfortunately the day did not get any better against He Tauaa. The Cooks managed to get a few old boys in to play right before kick-off, but the absence of core players showed as He Tauaa took the game away from the depleted Cooks, winning 38-8.
