Woodlands beat Marist 66-22 in the feature match at Rugby Park. Marist were aiming to earn their second upset win in a row after showing plenty of grit in their 15-14 victory over Star last weekend. Instead, Marist were blown off the park by Woodlands, who cruised to a 47-5 lead at halftime. Southland Stag and All Blacks Sevens player Fletcher Morgan played his first Southland club rugby game of the year. Fletcher lined up at second five and scored two of Woodlands’ 10 tries
and converted seven of them. Right winger Justin Shaw also scored two tries and landed one conversion. Woodlands loose forward Caleb Karangaroa was back from injury to captain the team from No 8 on Saturday. By the end of the game, Marist had managed to score four tries, one to their best player on the day, blindside flanker Luka Cassidy. Halfback Jordan O’Connell and centre Mike Moodie also played well and were rewarded with tries. Jason Rutledge was playing his 300th game for Woodlands. The
48-year-old hooker also had his son, Gregor, playing alongside him on the openside flank as they celebrated the special milestone. Jason’s second son, Sabin, was in his customary role for the team as the kicking-tee runner. Gregor, who has been named in this year’s Stags NPC squad, normally plays his club rugby for Kaikorai, while he is in Dunedin studying. Jason debuted for Woodlands in 1999 and last season he helped them win the Galbraith Shield for the 11th time in his career. He also
represented the Highlanders 59 times and Southland in 143 matches. Eastern Northern Barbarians beat Star 47-19 at Oreti Park. These two teams will be playing each other again this Saturday in a semifinal at Riversdale. Left winger Bunuve Dretiverata scored the first three of the Barbarians’ seven tries. Star were acknowledging lock Josh Bekhuis on Saturday for playing over 100 games for the club, while props Keflar Morrison and Cordell Prescott, and loose forwards Dylan Lovett and Zyon Walters were recognised playing over 50 games
each. Bekhuis, 40, the former long-serving Stag and Highlander, joined Star in 2005 and has played 133 games and played a part in four Galbraith Shield-winning seasons for Star. Invercargill Blues and Pirates Old Boys also avoided the mud on Saturday and played their match on the sand-based grounds at Oreti Park. Blues were playing their final game of the season and were out to earn their second win and possibly overtake Marist on the competition points table. That scenario never looked likely as POB
led 21-0 at halftime. POB had racked up 47 unanswered points by fulltime. Right winger Isaac Rounds enjoyed the perfect conditions and scored the first and last tries of the game. Pirates Old Boys finished second on the competition points table and will take on Woodlands in a semifinal at Rugby Park on Saturday. — John Langford
Woodlands, Marist, Rugby Park, Rutledge, 300th game, Fletcher Morgan, Justin Shaw, Caleb Karangaroa, Jason Rutledge, Gregor Rutledge, Sabin Rutledge, Eastern Northern Barbarians, Star, Oreti Park, Josh Bekhuis, Invercargill Blues, Pirates Old Boys, Isaac Rounds, semifinals