The Whalers travelled to Timaru with plenty to play for, knowing that a win was the only way to keep their aims of winning the South Island competition alive. The Eels were previously undefeated, with a win and a draw so far in the competition, and were top of the table heading into the contest.
The hosts came out firing, trying to put the pressure on the Whalers from the outset. They scored the first try of the match, right under the posts, but were soon put on the back foot when the Whalers scored three tries of their own through their skilled backs.
Both sides were able to score another try each before halftime, bringing the score to 18-12 in the Whalers’ favour at the break.
The Whalers stepped it up a notch in the second half and again the backs were in the limelight. Their dominance was aided by the immense work rate of the forward pack.
Manassah Kutia defended strongly and Hagan Free supported those efforts by taking an incredible 25 hit-ups. Hooker Sam Johnstone took to the fatigued Eels, with decisive running at dummy half regularly catching the marker defence off guard. The Whalers scored four more tries in the second half, bringing their tally to eight tries in an impressive performance. Seven of those tries came through the brilliant backs as Willie Time, Hyrum Martin and Terrence Reid scored two each in what was yet another remarkable performance for the trio.
Jordan Ruatoe also scored on the left wing, and prop Ricki Allan was the lone try-scorer from the forward pack.
Standoff Taua Piri was named man of the match for the direction he provided on attack, having a hand in almost all of the Whalers’ tries. Piri read the game well and used his option runners wisely to make sure his side had ascendancy in attack throughout the contest.
Whalers coach David Reedy was pleased with most of the game, saying "we went away from our game plan for a period, but once we got back on track, we played some good footy". Reedy also suggested that the score did not reflect how tough the Eels were. He thought they were a quality team that would only get better with more games of league under their belt. Otago will now look ahead to its clash against Tasman at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday.
In the other match of the round, the Southland Rams dominated the Tasman Titans 48-14 in Nelson.
- Ricki Allan
