The scoreboard had a light workout but the respective packs will still be nursing bruises today.
Harbour edged University 10-5 in a high-impact, low-scoring premier game at the University of Otago Oval on Saturday.
Both teams blew opportunities to post more points. They had a similar conversion rate to Stephen Fleming’s ability to turn 40-odd runs into a test century.
But what the backs lacked in sparkle the forwards made up for with guts.
University held the upper hand early. Its front row of Daniel Lienert-Brown, Ricky Jackson and Carlos Policarpio got the scrum moving forward at a rapid rate.
Lock Josh Hill rose higher than anyone else in the lineout and he barged his way over for his side’s only try.
It came midway through the second half and set up a tense finish to the game.
The first half looked as if it would end in a stalemate. Neither team had the accuracy to crack the other’s defence until a charge-down presented Hawks centre Viliami Fine the late opportunity.
He grubbed it ahead. The ball appeared to be winning the race to the dead ball line but Fine caught up with it just in time.
Joshua Robertson-Weepu drilled the sideline conversion to give his side a 7-0 lead at the break.
He also slotted a penalty deep in the second half to help seal the win.
University hooker Jackson had another standout performance, while his opposite, Bruce Kauika-Petersen, was abrasive and carried strongly.
Hawks openside James Tomkinson was busy at the breakdown.
Kaikorai 38 Alhambra-Union 22
Kaikorai moved into second place in the competition standings with a 38-22 win against Alhambra-Union at the North Ground.
It set up the win with a clinical first half and led 26-5 at the break.
Neither side would have been happy with their defence in the opening 10 minutes.
Kaikorai loosie Slade McDowell nipped down the blindside from a maul 10m out to score, and Alhambra-Union fullback Ben McCarthy replied three minutes later.
There was no defence on the blindside again and he scored in the corner.
Kaikorai got into its work thereafter. Experienced lock Pita Sinamoni carried strongly to provide a spark.
Alhambra-Union’s set piece continued to operate well but the home side took some poor options and got bumped off tackles a little too easily.
Alhambra-Union scored first after the break but the comeback was quickly squashed.
Kaikorai scored two more tries to put the game out of reach.
The Broncos got a couple of consolation tries in the final quarter of the game to slash the margin.
The game went to golden oldie scrums midway through the second half which did not help Alhambra-Union.
Prop Tristan Fuli had been doing a lot of damage in that phase but was replaced with a more mobile player when scrums were no longer a contest.
He had arguably been the best player on the park.
Sinamoni was dominant for Kaikorai and McDowell snaffled a lot of ball in the tight exchanges and was his usual industrious self.
Green Island 68 Zingari-Richmond 14
A solid performance from the Green Island tight five laid the platform for a 10-try scoring spree against Zingari-Richmond at Miller Park.
Chief benefactor was left wing Michael Manson who bagged four, taking his season’s tally to eight and becoming one of the competition’s leading try-scorers.
His first resulted from individual brilliance, when he broke through and fended off six would-be tacklers to score under the bar.
In the second half Manson really stamped his authority on the match, scoring his second try in the opening minute after the break. His third resulted from an intercept on halfway, and his fourth from a clever run straight after the restart.
With locks Josh Clark and Woody Kirkwood proving a handful on the burst from the breakdown, hooker Jake Fowler provided an ever present danger close in and nailed a brace of tries himself.
No8 Dylan Nel, who scored his brace of tries in the second quarter, played a major role in his team having banked a four-try bonus point before halftime.
Nel, along with flankers Oliver Haig and Heath MacEwan, provided an effective three-pronged mobility unit all around the field of play.
MacEwan's try came after he stormed clear from a breakdown on the Zingari-Richmond 22m.
While halfback James Arscott provided his backs with good service, handling errors curtailed several promising scoring moves.
To its credit, Zingari-Richmond stayed in the fight to the end. Front-rowers Liam Sharples, Bailey Matoe and Alex Nettleton, along with openside flanker Ciaran Jansen, all featured.
Southern 32 Dunedin 10
Southern started the game well and had early possession and territory but could not convert the pressure into points.
Dunedin slowly worked its way into the game on the back of its big pack and after two lineout drives were bought down, referee Fraser Hannon lost patience, awarded a penalty try and sent hooker Joe Cairns to the bin.
Inexplicably, that was the last of any meaningful attacking efforts from Dunedin.
The smaller Southern pack took control, especially at the breakdown, where it forced numerous turnovers.
No8 Mika Mafi made a break to put centre Josh Buchan away and level the scores.
Then after 30 minutes, flanker Brad Horne found himself out wide with space. He sold a dummy and went over untouched.
Obey Samate kicked a couple of late penalties and Southern led by 10 at the break.
Fullback Samate scored all the points in the second spell with two long-range tries as Dunedin capitulated.
Its forward pack looked slow and lethargic and a mile off the pace, which was a sad way to bring up flanker Hame Toma's 100th game.
The backline was tactically inept and never kicked for position at any stage.
For Southern, flanker Horne was everywhere and Mafi was strong with ball in hand.
First five-eighth Riku Kitahara controlled the game well with his educated boot and Samate, the game’s best player, was the most incisive and dangerous player on the paddock.
- ODT rugby writers
