Round two of the Southern Region rugby competition produced three blowouts and a tight tussle.
West Taieri proved that it is again one of the teams to beat.
It beat Owaka 53-3 under lights at Outram.
West Taieri was ahead 5-3 with 10 minutes to go in the first half when it moved up a gear to be ahead at halftime 29-3.
The second half did not get much better for Owaka.
Continued mistakes allowed West Taieri possession in dangerous parts of the field.
West Taieri’s forwards ran with purpose and made metres at will.
Halfback Jackson Reid claimed a double for the home side and distributed the ball well all night.
Callum Smeaton had an off night from the tee but made up for it with some dangerous spiral bombs which caused plenty of headaches at the back.
Kelly-Wayne Moore was also impressive in the backs.
Ethan Hippolite ran hard all game and made a lot of ground.
Flanker Joel White and lock Rhys Evans tackled well and No8 Chris Chittock made many turnovers at ruck time.
Clutha Valley remains unbeaten after two rounds and celebrated its 100th jubilee in style with a 64-0 win over Clinton at Clydevale.
The home side started strongly and continued that way for the full 80 minutes.
Valley’s forwards set a strong platform, which gave their backs front foot ball.
Valley’s dominance at ruck time resulted in a lot of turnover possession which usually resulted in points.
Valley No8 Damian Wilson had an outstanding game in front of his home crowd.
Wilson carried strongly and was very difficult to tackle, scoring two tries.
He also put in plenty of work on defence and show his class at lineout time.
Halfback Jared Edwards and midfielder Lachie Moore also scored a brace each. Moore kicked seven conversions for a personal tally of 24 points.
Clinton’s skipper Ross Burnet was a standout for his side on a tough day. Prop Matt Sullivan and centre Nick Anderson were also solid.
Crescent put aside the disappointment of last week to beat close rival Clutha 41-38 in a ripper of a clash in Balclutha.
The sides went try-for-try for much of the match, but Crescent was more composed when it mattered.
Crescent finished the first half well and went into the break 26-24 ahead.
Clutha levelled the scores close to the end of the match before Crescent first five-eighth Chase Owen knocked over a penalty to put his team back in front.
Clutha had possession in the dying stages of the match, but Owen showed the other side of his game with two pieces of defensive brilliance to deny Clutha and keep his side on track for victory.
Heriot welcomed Roxburgh back into the Southern Region competition with a 66-0 thrashing under lights at Heriot.
Heriot’s forwards were far too strong around the field and at set piece.
Heriot attacked for most of the game, scoring 10 tries and forcing Roxburgh into making plenty of tackles.
- Francis Parker