They are an excited bunch in the northern Southland town of Mossburn at the moment, and so they should be.
A few years back, the town’s club rugby team was on its knees and the outlook looked bleak.
They were getting only a dozen to training and mustering 15 players for Saturdays was a Herculean effort, let alone finding a way to be competitive.
Bit by bit, Mossburn has rebuilt to the point that last year, it won Southland’s division two club title.
That prompted the move to the division one competition, where it has gone about penning the next chapter in its revival story.
Coach Greg Tither said it was somewhat a step into the unknown jumping up a division, but he was confident they could be competitive in making the next step up. He had every reason to be confident.
Two weeks into the 2018 division one competition, Mossburn has two from two.
It toppled Waiau Star 21-5 in week one of the competition before beating northern Southland rival Te Anau 44-17 on Saturday.
Despite looking the better team, Mossburn held just a 15-12 lead against Te Anau at halftime. However, in the second half, that dominance started to translate to the scoreboard as it ran in another 29 points.
Second five-eighth Robbie Selby was immense in the victory, while hooker Ryan Carter again showed his quality.
Carter captained Woodlands last season in the Premier grade and was on the Stags’ radar but is back working on the family farm in Mossburn. Mossburn will have Carter’s services only for the first round, as he is preparing to go to Ireland to play some rugby.
Saturday brought the curtain down on stalwart Hamish Elder’s time playing for Mossburn as he heads to Mandeville.
Elder can depart a happy man, given the dozen or so players Mossburn got to training a few years back has now been bumped up to about the 26 mark.
Coach Tither’s headaches have switched from trying to find enough players to trying to fit them all in.
He suspects the division one challenge will ramp up when Mossburn takes on the likes of Edendale and Wyndham.
Edendale scraped home 21-19 against Waikaka on Saturday, while Wyndham was made to work hard in its 27-15 win over Waiau Star.
Midlands made it two from two with a 36-17 victory over Riversdale.
In division two action, Albion Excelsior emerged with the bragging rights in the battle of the Gore clubs.
It pipped Pioneer 15-12, while Riverton also claimed a three-point win, beating Waikiwi 37-34.
In the other fixture in section A of division two, Tokanui was too good for a Drummond-Limehills-Star team, which is struggling for playing numbers, winning 34-0.
In section B, Star beat Woodlands 43-5, Blues made it two from two with a 26-22 win over Wakatipu and Marist recorded a 43-30 victory over Pirates-Old Boys.
In division three, Otautau claimed a 29-24 win over Bluff and Bush Pirates posted a confidence-boosting 29-14 victory over Balfour-Lumsden.
Mataura was too slick in its 72-0 win over Collegiate.
- Logan Savory