An impressive comeback from South Canterbury against a gutsy North Otago outfit on Saturday ensured they stayed on top of the Heartland Championship table.
At the Temuka Domain, South Canterbury found themselves trailing by 23 points after 30 minutes, but rallied in the second half, on the back of an impressive scrum, to win 44-31.
The win also meant South Canterbury held on to the Hanan Shield, and the Bill Direen and Phil Gard memorial cups.
It also extended South Canterbury’s winning run in the championship to 36 games, and they remain four points clear of Whanganui, who cruised past Mid Canterbury 48-26 in Ashburton.
Thames Valley sit third after beating East Coast in a highscoring encounter 60-45. The bonus point for the Ngati Porou meant they jumped over Mid Canterbury to fourth spot with five of eight rounds completed.
Amazingly, East Coast were not the only team to score 45 points and lose, with Wairarapa Bush suffering the same fate in going down 62-45 to Horowhenua-Kapiti.
South Canterbury was boosted by the return of loan player Sam Briggs to first five.
Briggs initially threw his hat into the ring with Tasman, so it was his first outing this season for the Green and Blacks.
North Otago shot out of the gate, with lock Fergus Read scoring a try from a pick-and-go inside two minutes.
Fullback Ben McCarthy then spaced out wide for the Old Golds second and with first five Greg Dyer converting both tries, they were up 14-0 inside 10 minutes.
South Canterbury then got one back when left wing Peala Matakiango scored out wide after a great bust from No 8 Siu Kakala.
Halfback Willie Wright was yellow-carded for a professional foul and North Otago made the most of it, with hard-charging second five Mataitani Feke scoring; then, after a clever kick from centre Hayden Todd into the in-goal, left wing Mavaetangi Finau won the race for ball and got enough downward pressure with one hand to score.
Dyer converted both scores to extend North Otago’s lead to 28-5.
At that stage North Otago did not look like a side that had only won one game previously this season, and it appeared coach Scott Barnes and his technical adviser Barry Matthews had certainly done their homework on the home side, with their defence getting in the faces of the hosts.
But South Canterbury showed some mettle with two tries before the break, with Kakala scoring from close range and centre Clarence Moli adding the other off a break from Wright to make the halftime score 28-17. North Otago also lost Feke to the bin for repeated high tackles.
South Canterbury coach Nigel Walsh’s halftime rev-up paid dividends and his side came out firing.
The pack destroyed North Otago in the first two scrums and the quick-thinking Kakala took a quick tap from 5m to crash over and close the gap to four points.
Dyer then extended North Otago’s lead to seven with a penalty before a slick, no-look inside pass from Wright fooled the defence and opened up a big gap for Matakiango to grab his second try.
Wright’s conversion tied the game at 31-all, something that had looked unlikely 25 minutes before.
North Otago then had halfback Jake Matthews sent to the bin for a professional foul when he held back a supporting player.
Fullback Liueli Simote then got the biggest cheer of the day when he straightened up a backline move and went in untouched to give South Canterbury the lead for the first time.
Replacement halfback Faalele Iosua added the conversion and two late penalties to secure what in the end was a deserved victory.
Credit must go to the whole team and the coaching staff for not panicking despite being well behind early.
North Otago must take some plaudits for their first-half performance, but they will be disappointed they could not hang on to a big lead.
Results (round 5).—
South Canterbury 44, North Otago 31; King Country 43, West Coast 17; Whanganui 48, Mid Canterbury 26; Horowhenua Kapiti 62, Wairarapa Bush 45; Poverty Bay 28, Buller 26; Thames Valley 60, East Coast 45.
Championship points
South Canterbury 25; Whanganui 21; Thames Valley 19; East Coast 15; Horowhenua Kapiti, Mid Canterbury 14; King Country 13; Buller 10; North Otago 8; Wairarapa Bush 7; Poverty Bay 5.
