Plenty to work on after loss

Tim O’Neill.
Tim O’Neill.
Otago Country  has started its campaign with a heavy 41-7 defeat to the Tasman Red Devils in Milton.

The Red Devils had size and speed on their side as well as having two games under their belt already.

The scoreline hardly reflected the game, though.

Country dominated the set peices, gaining two tightheads, and Tasman’s lineout was put under severe pressure.

But Country was rusty in patches and slipped off too many tackles.

The visiting side played with good width, stretching the defence and making holes.

The halftime score was 20-7 and Country was still in the contest, but a handling error from the kickoff resulted in a turnover and the Red Devils scored from the following phases.

The Country team introduced some fresh faces into the second half and  injected some life into the side.Country launched a series of attacks but its execution was poor, and a couple of tries towards the end blew the score out.

Country coach Fraser Fletcher was positive about the result, although he acknowledged there was "plenty to work on but we are not too far off the mark".

Tasman coach Mark Stewart praised Country which he said "never gave up and gave as good as they got in the contact areas". 

Country lock Jimmy Northcote dominated at set piece, carried the ball well and was one of the team’s best on defence.

Halfback Ben Maxwell tackled strongly amd made a couple of handy breaks.

His box kicks put pressure on the Tasman defence.

Prop Tim O’Neill scrummaged very well until a nasty knee injury ended his game early.

Reserve hooker Ben Carr scored Country’s only try when was on as a blood bin replacement late in the first half. Raf Tuhura and Tom Dougherty added some punch off the bench.

Tasman’s Argentinian winger Beco Diez ran hard all day, scoring two tries and was  hard to stop.

Rawiri Tamati controlled things nicely for the visiting side, while captain Seymour Lambert led by example with some big carries and some crunching hits on defence.

Country’s next challenge is on Saturday in Christchurch against Canterbury Maori.

● The Otago Sassenach Colts registered a come-from-behind 38-33 win against North Otago Development in Oamaru.  

- Francis Parker

 

Otago Country v Tasman
The scores

Tasman Red Devils 41

Beco Diez 2, Talaula Fotu 2, Billy Collins, Te Ariki tries; Rawiri Tamati 4 con, 1 pen

Otago Country  7

Ben Carr try; Ben Maxwell con

Halftime: Tasman 20-7

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