Pirates Old Boys kept their unbeaten record intact in this season’s Southland Galbraith Shield senior club rugby with a 46-25 win over Star on Saturday.
The big crowd that attended club day at Surrey Park was treated to an excellent game of running rugby, played at a high pace and featuring some heavy defence.
Both teams earned numerous turnovers in the first 20 minutes, which meant play moved quickly from end to end.
Centre Isaac Te Tamaki scored first for the Hawks, after a quick tap taken from a penalty caught Star off guard.
The Hawks then lost a man to the bin after a defensive misread by Dan Cairns, who was having his first game back in two years.
Star kicked two penalty goals before POB struck back with its second try.
Te Tamaki crossed for his second try and Greg Dyer landed a penalty goal to make it 20-6 at halftime.
Star scored immediately after the resumption but that effort was cancelled out when Dyer sniped down the short side and put Te Tamaki away for his hat-trick.
From the kick-off, POB went the length of the field, increasing the margin to 34-13.
To Star’s credit, it did not lie down, and as the bodies tired the game opened up even more.
Both teams crossed for another two tries each.
Te Tamaki was man of the match, and flanker Dustin Coveney and second five-eighth Jaye Thompson also played well. Captain Craig Smith impressed in his 200th game for POB.
In the other two premier grade games, Woodlands beat Blues 32-19 at Balmoral Dr, and Marist beat the Eastern Northern Barbarians 32-29 at the Gore Showgrounds.
In the Ack Soper Shield competition, Wyndham beat Riversdale 21-15.
Wyndham scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes and Riversdale did well to battle its way back with some good rolling mauls and closed the gap to 18-15 at half time.
The second half was a typical country rugby slog, as Wyndham hung on for a well-deserved win.
Waikaka beat Midlands 21-20 in Winton and Edendale beat Tokanui 37-31.
- John Langford
