Harbour 23
Green Island 17
Harbour overcame a spirited Green Island side in horrid conditions at Kettle Park No 2 on Saturday.
Green Island were forced into eight changes to their original lineup for a game that would decide their season.
For the defending champions, the loss ended their hopes of progressing to the playoffs.
Harbour dominated the opening quarter despite playing into a strong wind. The Hawks scored through hooker Gabriel Francesconi and prop Saula Ma’u for a 10-0 lead.
Play started to flow Green Island’s way and they scored twice from rolling mauls, first to hooker Heath MacEwan and moments later to halfback Daniel Smart.
First five Liam Barron made no mistake with the conversions from wide out then made good use of a strong southerly at his back to land a 45m penalty goal to hand the Grizzlies a 17-10 lead at the break.
Harbour took a turn with the wind at their back and Ma’u rumbled over for his second try.
The conversion locked the game up at 17-17.
Green Island were forced into some resolute defence to keep their line intact.
But after almost 20 minutes of sustained pressure inside the Green Island 22m, Rique Milne broke the deadlock with a penalty.
Nathan Hastie added another three-pointer to seal a 23-17 win.
Green Island dominated the final minutes but found no way through a stern Harbour defence. — Wayne Parsons
University 36
Kaikorai 13
University’s season hang in the balance at halftime.
They trailed Kaikorai 13-9 in brutal conditions at Hancock Park.
They had desperately tried to maul their way over the line but Kaikorai repelled about four lineout drives in a row late in the half.
University also lost hooker Henry Bell to the bin for 10 minutes.
But they kept their line intact, had momentum going into the second spell, and they dominated thereafter.
Their bigger pack got more traction in the mud and they denied Kaikorai any meaningful possession.
The students pruned back their game plan to the bare minimum, which essentially amounted to smashing it up the guts.
That said, they did spin the ball slightly wider of the ruck to winger Finlay Hagen, who scored in the corner to put University into the lead.
Rico Muliaina landed an impossible penalty attempt into the teeth of a bitter crosswind.
Everyone eventually looked the same. They were covered in mud from head to toe apart from the old shivering outside back.
University loosehead prop Charles Engelbrecht crashed over, and Thomas Umaga-Jensen punched through the defensive line to add another.
Replacement forward Oliver Hatch scored an important fourth try to seal a bonus point win for the students that lifted them to third in the standings.
This was a game for the purest. The forwards dominated.
The likes of Ricky Jackson and Mitchell Tinnock helped win the battle around the fringe of the ruck, and Muliaina had a fine game at first five in tricky conditions.
Slade McDowall did a lot of tackling for Kaikorai. — Adrian Seconi
Taieri 24
Southern 14
All the action was at one end.
The wind blew the ball that way at Kettle Park.
His tactical kicking proved just as valuable as the three conversions and penalty he landed to help clinch victory over Southern.
The win meant Taieri sealed top spot for the playoffs, while Southern dropped down to fifth.
Millar peeled off a 50-22 to seal a crucial lineout feed.
Taieri drove over from the maul to take a 21-0 lead and Millar added a penalty before the break to make it 24-0.
The wind was probably worth 20 or so, and that final try and penalty were arguably the difference.
Southern rallied with the wind at their backs and scored two converted tries.
Konrad Toleafoa barged over from the back of a scrum. And Mackenzie Palmer put in a clever chip kick that was fumbled at the back, and Harry Taylor dived on it to score.
It was a good reward for a loose forward who was everywhere all at once again.
Southern threw everything at Taieri in the final 10 minutes, but the Eels certainly know how to defend.
They were stout. Resolute. Unbending.
Millar’s kicking was helpful. Hooker Brady Robertson netted two tries and No 8 Sam Fischli — who has just signed to play his NPC rugby for the Southland Stags — put in another solid shift.
Palmer had some good moments for Southern, and Taylor produced another quality outing. — Adrian Seconi
Alhambra-Union 27
Zingari-Richmond 15
Alhambra-Union dominated possession and territory to bag their first win of the season in the final round.
The men in maroon had the ball in the right places for the majority of the game and that led to five tries and a solid win over Zingari-Richmond at a damp and cold Montecillo.
AU led 15-5 at halftime and never looked threatened in the second half.
First five William Thode scored three tries but it was his boot that won the game for Alhambra Union.
He continually had the home team backpedalling with clever kicks into the corners.
His twin brother inside him, Oliver, also impressed and scored a try to dampen any thoughts of a home comeback in the second half.
The Alhambra-Union forwards worked hard, were strong at the breakdown and won their own lineout ball.
The conditions made it tough for any free-flowing rugby and puddles on the ground meant some kicks just died as they went along the ground.
Flanker Connor Aldrich and prop Ben Latu worked hard for AU while winger Ramesh Khatri went looking for work.
Zingari-Richmond did not have a long kicking game, which was too big of a hurdle to overcome. They at least scored three outstanding long-range tries, the best of them in the first half to halfback Fionn Mckenna.
Hooker A-One Lolofie performed well, scoring a try where he shredded tacklers, while outside back Ben Fakava tried hard. — Steve Hepburn
Round 14
The scores
Harbour 23 (Saula Ma’u 2, Gabriel Francesconi tries; Rique Milne con, pen, Nathan Hastie pen), Green Island 17 (Heath MacEwan, Dan Smart tries; Liam Barron 2 con, pen). Halftime: GI 17-10.
University 36 (Finlay Hagen, Charles Engelbrecht, Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Oliver Hatch tries; Rico Muliaina con, 4 pen, Brad Campbell con), Kaikorai 13 (Henry Cleaver try; Ben Miller con, 2 pen). Halftime: Kaikorai 13-9.
Taieri 24 (Brady Robertson 2, Eric Peita tries; Cameron Millar 3 con, pen), Southern 14 (Konrad Toleafoa, Harry Taylor tries; Mackenzie Palmer 2 con). Halftime: Taieri 24-0.
Alhambra-Union 27 (William Thode 3, Oliver Thode, Petelo Amato tries; William Thode con), Zingari-Richmond 15 (Fionn Mckenna, Ben Fakava, A-One Lolofie tries). Halftime: AU 15-5.
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | B | Pts | |
| Taieri | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 451 | 237 | 10 | 50 |
| Dunedin | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 377 | 196 | 8 | 48 |
| University | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 452 | 337 | 9 | 42 |
| Harbour | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 389 | 352 | 10 | 41 |
| Southern | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 476 | 255 | 10 | 40 |
| Kaikorai | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 449 | 322 | 7 | 39 |
| Green Is | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 376 | 345 | 10 | 34 |
| Zingari-Rich | 13 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 686 | 408 | 5 | 9 |
| AU | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 206 | 508 | 3 | 8 |
Points for the second round bye: University 5, Dunedin 4, Harbour 3, Southern 2, AU 1.
