Plenty of grit. Plenty of determination. Just not enough attacking power.
It was beaten 31-11 by Bay of Plenty in Invercargill to open its NPC campaign with two consecutive losses.
Southland showed plenty of resolve and fought well, particularly through loose forwards Tony Lamborn and Matt James.
But the Bay of Plenty defence proved similarly resolute.
On several occasions, Southland found itself looking to build phases, but it could not break the line and ended up turning the ball over.
Only once did it cross, finding flanker Charles Alaimalo out wide after a string of phases in the tight built pressure the defence could not handle.
That came early in the second half and brought the score to 10-5.
But it was as close as the Stags got.
Bay of Plenty brought plenty of firepower on attack and regularly looked to strike from long range, particularly in the first half.
The Steamers created plenty of chances, although they often were let down by a final pass or trying to force an extra offload.
Debut left winger Onisi Ratave was a constant threat in space, his step and ability to break tackles creating several opportunities.
It was one of those runs that led to the first try.
Ratave broke through the middle of a ruck and nearly made it all the way, before offloading to flanker Mitch Karpik to score.
Kaleb Trask converted then added a penalty just before the break to make it 10-0.
Southland began to work its way into the game after halftime and built its phases for Alaimalo to score.
But Bay of Plenty hit back for one of its own.
It built pressure and turned down several shots at goal, which eventually yielded a try to fullback Sean Wainui, as he beat his man on the outside off a scrum.
Southland again hit back via two penalties.
But Ratave again showed his brilliance as he scampered up the sideline down the blindside to score one of his own.
Nikora Broughton scored a late one to take Bay of Plenty past 30, as Southland was reduced to 14 men when Alaimalo was perhaps harshly yellow-carded.
In other games yesterday, Waikato beat Wellington 43-37 in a tryfest in Hamilton, and in Whangarei, Taranaki beat Northland 48-14.
On Saturday, Canterbury pipped Manawatu 25-22, and Tasman beat Auckland 16-11 in a rematch of last year’s final.
