University 64
Harbour 10
A strong and mobile University pack laid the platform for a convincing 10-try victory over Harbour on Logan Park No 4.
Prop Steve Salelea shone from the start, creating turnover ball and becoming menacing in broken play. Fellow front-rowers Charles Englebrecht and Ricky Jackson followed his lead to feature in broken play and create space and opportunity.
Jackson’s SBW-like offload to flanker William Riley was an example of free-flowing student rugby at its best.
The Highlanders hooker also played a part in the final movement of the game in which he broke loose and unselfishly offloaded to Ale Aho to score his second try.
Aho proved a force on the blindside flank when coming off the bench in the second half, replacing team captain Aaron Withy.
Locks Mitchell Tinnock and Benjamin Strowger-Turnock formed a dynamic duo, dominating the lineout and in general being constantly on hand to expose Harbour in close.
Their presence led to a brace of tries to halfback Bradley Campbell and to Tinnock scoring himself when proving unstoppable close to the line.
Campbell provided clean service to all around him, while second five Hugo Lynch was superb in creating space and was a tireless defender.
For Harbour, halfback Nathan Hastie, No 8 Jerome Misiloi and first five Mason James combined well to create opportunity and space under relentless pressure.
— Wayne Parsons
Green Island 32
Taieri 29
This was a ding-dong Battle of the Saddle that could have fallen either way as the clock ran down.
Green Island fullback Finn Hurley turned from zero to hero as the game finished with a kicking battle between him and Taieri first five Alex Honey.
Hurley had earlier blotted his copybook with a rather silly late hit that earned a yellow card, but he stepped up to make two clutch kicks.
The first was a 48m monster penalty goal with a couple of minutes left to make it 29-26, and the second a buzzer-beater to clinch victory after Honey’s own kick had threatened to secure a draw.
Green Island would have been relieved to get out of Peter Johnstone Park with maximum points as they had not always been that impressive.
They were dominant up front, particularly at scrum time, but their discipline was poor and they frittered away a lot of opportunities. Still, finishing the day top of the table will feel rather nice.
Taieri were immensely gutsy. They soaked up pressure and played some nice rugby, but perhaps just lamented a lack of genuine finishing out wide.
After both sides scored a try in the first quarter, Green Island threatened to break the game open with a wonderful try from 70m out. It stated with a Riley Lucas break and ended with Hurley crossing the chalk.
Honey landed the first two of his five penalties to restrict the Grizzlies to a 14-13 lead at halftime.
The try of the game was then scored by Green Island winger Vilimone Bainibure, who got the ball 25m inside his own half, chipped ahead and grabbed the bouncing ball to zoot away.
Green Island were again held in check by Honey’s boot before the tense finish.
Heath MacEwan and Delaney McKenzie were magnificent in the GI pack, while Finn Strawbridge was mostly composed and Lucas was always a threat.
Bob Martin had a boomer of a game at halfback for Taieri.
His efforts were matched by Eric Peita, who shone in the lineout and general play for the Eels, and relentless captain Thomas Bolton.
— Hayden Meikle
Dunedin 23
Kaikorai 3
Dunedin out-muscled a rather flat Kaikorai side to cause a minor upset at Bishopscourt.
Kaikorai had sailed through the early rounds of the season with three straight wins but came unstuck against a Sharks pack possessing plenty of brains and brawn.
Neither side fired too many shots in a first half dominated by defence and the referee’s whistle.
Dunedin, in particular, formed an impenetrable line and dominated the collision to squirrel away a 7-0 lead at the break.
They only scored a try in each half but their suffocating defence was enough to keep the Demons at bay.
Dunedin lock James Bolton continued his excellent form with an all-action display, while prop Hunter Fahey was strong and accurate.
Highlanders first five Ajay Faleafaga controlled play nicely and was a perfect five from five from the kicking tee, and both Josh Augustine and Max Hennessy-Webb did some good things out wide.
Kaikorai’s loosies, led by skipper Lucas Casey, worked hard in a losing cause, and Nic Proffit showed some nice touches in the backs, but this will have been a reality check for the home side.
— Hayden Meikle
Zingari Richmond 38
Alhambra-Union 22
Alhambra-Union might not win a lot of games this season but they will earn plenty of respect if they play like this.
The Broncos fought with a good deal of strength and pride at the North Ground before unbeaten Zingari-Richmond escaped with the points.
It was just 12-8 at halftime — a scoreline that would have surprised those expecting the Colours to have a walkover.
The sides went toe-to-toe for much of the first spell, though AU will lament not making more of a 20-minute period they dominated.
Zingari scored a momentum-shifting try just after the restart and were good enough to stay in control the rest of the game.
Openside flanker Flavius Roberts-Vili had an outstanding game for Zingari.
Also prominent was lock Lawrence Leung-Wai, who scored a cracking individual try from 70m out.
There were plenty of stand-outs in an AU team that did not back down and kept taking the game to the opposition.
Hooker Petelo Amato and prop Kenny Delino, in particular, carried hard and were damaging forces on defence.
— Hayden Meikle
Round 5
The scores
University 64 (Bradley Campbell 2, Ale Aho 2, Mac Harris, Hugo Lynch, Mitchell Tinnock, Jeremiah Asi, Aaron McMurray, William Riley tries; Michael Williams 7 con).
Harbour 10 (Max Brown, Tetauru Cuthers tries).
Halftime: University 38-5.
Green Island 32 (Ben Lopas, Finn Hurley, Vilimone Bainibure, Samuel Nemec-Vial tries; Hurley 2 con, 2 pen, Finn Strawbridge con).
Taieri 29 (Bob Martin, Thomas Bolton tries; Alex Honey 2 con, 5 pen).
Halftime: Green Island 14-13.
Dunedin 23 (Josh Augustine, Curtis Palmer tries; Ajay Faleafaga 2 con, 3 pen).
Kaikorai 3 (Nic Proffit pen).
Halftime: Dunedin 7-0.
Zingari-Richmond 38 (Flavius Roberts-Vili, Ene Junior Lam Cheung, Tama Apineru, Lawrence Leung-Wai, Daniel Muasika, Dylan Petaia tries; Shaun Driver 4 con).
Alhambra-Union 22 (Petelo Amato, Benjamin Latu, Charles Alston tries; William Thode 2 con, pen).
Halftime: Zingari 12-8.
Standings
| P | W | L | D | BP | F | A | Pts | |
| Green Island | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 193 | 72 | 19 |
| Zingari-Richmond | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 140 | 115 | 19 |
| Kaikorai | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 168 | 38 | 15 |
| Southern | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 144 | 70 | 15 |
| Dunedin | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 133 | 104 | 14 |
| University | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 191 | 74 | 12 |
| Taieri | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 111 | 176 | 7 |
| Harbour | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 269 | 1 |
| Alhambra Union | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 287 | 0 |
