Defending Southern Region champions West Taieri sent an early warning with their 43-0 win against Toko at Outram on Saturday.
West Taieri’s forwards made a big statement in the contact area as they broke tackles and made numerous metres.
Their set piece was also a level above, especially their scrum which dominated from the outset.
West Taieri led 22-0 at the break and capitalised in the second half.
Toko did offer some nice touches on attack but were punished for some one-off runners and poor decision making at key times.
West Taieri’s discipline let them down on occasions with two yellow cards shown to two senior members — one for not wearing a mouthguard.
West Taieri were served extremely well by young winger Renata Sweeney.
Sweeney scored a brace of tries and was electric in open space.
No 8 Conor Lawson made some thunderous runs and bone-breaking shots on defence.
Toko skipper Dylan Greer put in a valiant effort for his side.
Crescent wrestled the Greg Smith Memorial Trophy off Owaka with a 30-12 win in Kaitangata.
Crescent opened the scoring with two early penalties from the boot of Chase Owen.
Owaka began to find their feet and some front foot ball allowed them to score twice in quick succession through winger Vavae Lesa.
Crescent was not to be outdone and opened their account shortly after as loose forward Andy Carruthers brought up his 50th try for his side.
Owaka were reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes with midfielder Siaosi Lepua in the bin for continued infringements.
Crescent made their numerical advantage count with another two tries before Lepua returned to play and led 18-12 at the break.
Owaka were the architects of their own demise in the second half as they failed to clear their lines accurately and allowed Crescent to attack with premium field position.
Clutha Valley took two trophies and five points away from Heriot with a comfortable 50-17 win on the road.
The Speights Jug and Trevor Peters Memorial are back in the Valley clubrooms and the men from Clydevale have shown they mean business.
The visitors scored two early tries but Heriot fought their way back into the half and managed to make some inroads.
But mistakes cost Heriot in key positions as Valley managed to clear their lines with ease through the boot of Thomas Johnson.
Valley scored an important try on the halftime whistle to go into the sheds 26-10 ahead.
Valley found holes in the Heriot defence in the second spell.
The lineout was also another weapon for the visitors who stole numerous lineouts against the throw to set up positive field position. Heriot looked strong on the ball, but Valley was a hard nut to crack.
Lawrence recorded a bonus point 36-33 win over Clinton in what can only be described as a game of two halves.
Lawrence scored five tries to lead the match 31-0 at halftime.
But Clinton rolled up their sleeves and went to to work in the second spell, scoring five tries themselves.
But they also let one crucial try in for Lawrence which was indeed the killer for them.
By Francis Parker
