Blues Rugby – Since 1874

SEMI-FINALS: ROAD SAFETY SOUTH BLUES V Star @ Les George Oval, July 23 2011

Last year it was a Joe Tuineau try just after halftime that sank us in the semifinal against Woodlands.  This year it was another club and another loosie who did the same after halftime when we had absorbed a solid 40 of Star pressure and were still pretty confident.

Everything went well in the warm up, a seven minute delay to kick off not fazing anyone, and the team was pumped as they headed on to Les George in great conditions.  As expected the match started with Star throwing themselves at us, and the first few minutes were about absorbing that pressure.  A Barry Tuilagi penalty after six minutes hit the post, but an unlucky accidental offside two minutes later saw Star go on the board 0-3.

Nicky Herbert copied Barry a few minutes later when his first attempt hit the post too.  He was given another opportunity three minutes later from a more difficult angle and it was astray.  The teams settled into attack and counter attack for 10 minutes, with much of the game being played inbetween the 22s.  Herbie missed another shot after 27 minutes, but was on target four minutes later to level the scores at 3-3.

Barry missed another penalty and Herbie hit the post again to send the teams into halftime all square.  We knew we had to lift our workrate and start running Star around, but the Blatch try after 10 minutes in the second half caused a few jitters and it took us time to settle again.  Herbie nutted a penalty after 53 minutes to bring us back to 6-10, but the hammer went down five minutes later when Nick Annear was allowed to run and set up Eric “Cheese Scones” Tui for what would be the defining score in the match.  Barry dropped over the conversion, and at 6-17 down, we finally sprang to life.  A Tuilagi penalty extended the lead to 6-20, but we got better and after a good period where we played to our strengths, Daniel Roberts squeezed over close to the sticks for a try which Herbie converted.

Star tried to shut the game down, but with time running out we held the ball for 14 phases and looked odds-on for some sort of score.  Unfortunately it wasn’t enough and while we might have been minor premiers, the Shane McDermott Top Qualifier Curse has struck again.

Best for Blues were the back three of Herbert, Simon Bradley and Waaka Parkinson.

Road Safety Southland Blues 13 (D Roberts try; N Herbert 1 con, 2 pen)  Star 20 HT 3-3

ROUND THREE, GAME FIVE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTH BLUES V Star @ Centrepoint 4, July 16 2011

Bugger.

Road Safety Southland Blues 25 (R Kamaru 2, S Muir tries; N Herbert 2 con, 2 pen)  Star 37 HT 5-19

ROUND THREE, GAME FOUR: ROAD SAFETY SOUTH BLUES V Pirates Old Boys @ Centrepoint 4, July 2 2011

There was a lot of motivation for this game.  Mike Wilkins’ 200th, Mike Peterson’s 50th, and our send-off to Brian Beardsley all rolled into one.  It was a perfect day at Centrepoint, and a perfect start when after two minutes a sharp Theo Herewini-Harden run put Nicky Herbert in for his first try of what would be a big day for the centre.  Herbie converted his own try from the chalk and we were 7-0 up.

It was all on again after six minutes, when one of Simon Bradley’s typical elusive runs came to a halt on Pirates’ 40m mark.  Sam Low put most premier halfbacks to shame with a huge pass to the back and Rua put Billy Soper into a hole.  Billy ran 30m before being caught by the defence, but with Rua in support he was able to flick the pass up to Southland’s biggest first five who wen in under the horns.  Herbie converted again, and it was 14-0.

After 11 minutes, a wobbly old wipers kick by Rua bounced up kindly for an unmarked Simon Bradley who tore off into the Pirates half, did the fullback like a dinner, and passed to Herbie who went in for his second try and third conversion.  Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, three minutes later some great wide ball saw Waaka Parkinson get the ball on halfway with the cover coming across fast.  But as he has done so many times this season, he evaded them all and ran 50m to score his eighth try of the season.  Herbie converted.  14 minutes gone, bonus point try in the bag already, and Herbie with 18 points.

To their credit, POB came back into the game and were rewarded with a try after 24 minutes.  Having said that, we botched a couple of clear-cut opportunities in the same period.  Anyway, the fairytale got back on track after a front of the lineout move Woody and Sword had been practicing all week at home came off and saw the old stager Wilkins go over in the corner to celebrate his 200th premier game with a try.  Herbie missed the conversion, but at 33-5 it had been an impressive half, ruined only by a last minute POB try to make it 33-10 at the break.

After 47 minutes, Brendon Wilkins (not to be left out of the family celebrations) did a good pick and go from a ruck close to the line to score and give Herbie an easy conversion to bring up the 40 points.  We then lost some structure in the game, and despite playing patches of rugby similar to the first half extravaganza, couldn’t get over the line.  Pirates did, however, after 54 minutes to make it 40-15.

They kept hammering away, and put themselves in two overlap scoring positions.  Both times the final pass was intercepted by a)Towney and b) Herbie who both ran 75m to score.  Herbie converted his own try to collect a hat trick and 27 points for the day and make it 52-15.  Pirates came back with a late try, and the final score of 52-20 would have had Brian Beardsley smiling from upstairs.  Week off now, then back into it.

Road Safety Southland Blues 52 ( N Herbert 3,  R Kamaru, W Parkinson, D Townson, M Wilkins, B Wilkins tries; N Herbert 6 con)  Pirates OB 20 HT 33-10

ROUND THREE, GAME THREE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTH BLUES V Midlands @ Winton, June 25 2011

I knew Cunny had Midlands amping for this game, as normally the Midlands boys are keen for a yarn, shoot the shit kinda stuff before the game.  Not today.  It was a grunted ‘gidday’ and the 1,000 yard stare as they arrived to get ready for the big game.

We, on the other hand, had one of those days where the hour before kick off seemed to drag on interminably.  Luckily the warm up switched everyone on and a halcyon first 15 minutes set the groundwork for the sixth win in a row and the minor premiership in the bag with two games to play.

It was corker conditions for kick off, with the odd bit of drizzle shifting away and the ground in pretty good nick.  We were on the board first, a Nicky Herbert penalty after 3 minutes taking him to 99 points for the year.  After five minutes, some intense pressure on the Midlands ruck and subsequently, their backs, saw James Lew get a charge down which he was able to nudge through, dive on and score.  Herbie’s Hungee had to wait, as the kick was astray.  Luckily it came after 10 minutes, as a penalty saw him bring up three figures for the first time in blue and black.

Five minutes later there was a touch of deja vu as this time Scott Cowan tried to kick out of his 22, and had it charged.  The langorous James Wilson trotted through, dotted down, Herbie converted, and it was 18-0 after 15 minutes.  It’s fair to say we were dominant.

To their credit, though, Midlands came back with that “never say die” attitude and held us scoreless for 15 minutes, and made a few sharp attacks of their own.  As the rain started to fall at the 30 minute mark, Herbie nutted another penalty to make it 21-0, and we went into 10 minutes of arm wrestle before halftime, not helped by a string of penalties (some of which, it has to be said, were hard to work out).  Our defence held pretty well until the 38 minute mark, when a Mark Wells typical slippery run put Midlands hot on attack.  They retained possession for a long time and eventually squeezed over in the corner to make it 21-5 at the break.

The game changed a bit in the second half, thanks mainly to the rain but also due to us trying to play our razzle-dazzle first half footy on a ground that was increasingly turning to shit soup.  A Midlands penalty after three minutes made it 21-8, and they really put us under the hammer.  Our defensive effort was equal to the task, though, and the introduction of the Ruahine Rocket, Mr G Horton Esq. added a fizz at the back when he got the ball in broken play.

Nevertheless, trying to run out of our red zone did not pay off, and they scored a try after 60 minutes from a turnover.  The conversion would have made it interesting, but it missed.  21-13.  New daddy Waaka “Top Tryscorer” Parkinson went clear at the top of the leaderboard after 28 minutes with a well-taken unconverted try to make it 26-13, but the buggers kept coming back.

Another string of sometimes odd penalties let Midlands in for their third try as we struggled to completely control the conditions and our desire to attack.  At 26-20 with eight minutes to go, there were a few nervous fingernails getting the treatment.  Herbie, then Rua missed penalties, but it didn’t matter, as the try of the day was dished up by the team’s resident Mad Dog.

Both Elliott Dixon and Michael Fatialofa had threatened to break out during the game (a little knock on denied Fats what would have been a sensational try from 40m out) but it was Mad Dog Dixon who ended up doing the business.  He bust a move through the midfield and charged upfield, knocking over a coupla blokes in his wake, before delivering the ball to a supporting Rua, who charged in to the left of the posts to seal the deal.  Herbie converted and who ended up 33-20 winners.

We had a day where our champagne rugby was Dom Perignon.  We also tried to drink too much of it sometimes, but hey – it paid off and Blues are the MINOR PREMIERSHIP WINNERS with two games left.  Top efforts from Elliott Dixon, Fats, Lewie and Towney.  Excellent injury return from the Boogster, and a tidy hooking performance in tough conditions from Te Arohatai Matiaha.  Gotta keep the momentum.

Road Safety Southland Blues 33 ( J Lew, J W R Wilson, W Parkinson, R Kamaru tries; N Herbert 2 con,  3 pen)  Midlands 20 HT 21-8

ROUND THREE, GAME TWO: ROAD SAFETY SOUTH BLUES V Woodlands @ The SH1 Swede Paddock Puddle, June 18 2011

You know there are some people you can’t trust.  Such as shifty-eyed Woodlands coaches.  Who else would be so stupid as to put a potential Southland Stag with a chronic groin injury in ankle deep mud in the Swede Paddock International Stadium on a day like today?  Anyway, that’s enough about potential All Black Marty McKenzie.

I’d rather talk about this.  Apparently playing in the mud on the number two swede paddock was supposed to nullify our scrum.  No-one told our forwards.  But more on that later.

Back in the good old days when Morts or Tony Kelly were running club rugby, they would have told Woodlands that their grounds weren’t up to scratch (compared to the hard, fast tracks at Les George) in mid-June.  Not so the current crop, who seem keen to limp from fuckup to fuckup (how did the referee development officer forget the communications gear?).

Anyway, thinking the Bs would be playing on number 2 swede paddock, we set about looking at number 1 swede paddock.  As it turned out, we both played on number 2 swede paddock, nicely churned up into a bubbling brown mess by the Bs before the Premier game.

The intermittent drizzle and near freezing conditions made for open, running rugby.  Nah, just kidding.

To be fair, we tried it, and it paid off after 11 minutes when Simon “Four Games, Four Tries” Bradley screamed in off his wing and through two tacklers to open the scoring.  Herbie missed the conversion from the sideline, but we were up 5-0.

After 19 minutes Marty McKenzie pulled back a few with a handy penalty, Herbie missed a penalty after 29 min (to be fair, the ball was flat), and that was that for a mud-filled first half full of tension.  Mainly mine.

5-3 at halftime and the message (while secret) was clear.

Anyway, whatever those two coaching roosters said at halftime worked.  We dominated possession and territory, and after five minutes Simon Bradley got driven over for what clearly was his second try.  But the club rugby manager running the touch obviously needs glasses.  Ref Dave McKelvie awarded a five metre scrum to Blues and the spirit of Roger Ramsay was with us.  The ensuing eight man drive was a pleasure to watch as Willy ‘The Artist Formerly Known As Wilfred’ Kamaru scored a classic Zinzan Brooke pushover try.  Herbie converted and we were up 12-3.

We had a number of opportunities, but not sticking to the ruck dominance in the Woodlands’ red zone cost us, and Woodlands broke out, costing us a borderline penalty which the ‘Real’ Kid converted to make it 12-6 after 55 minutes.  The same thing happened five minutes later, with McKenzie nutting another to make it 12-9.

The message went out loud and clear.  Tackle your arse off and use our scrum and ruck dominance to get points.

It paid off 10 minutes later, when another pushover from a tighthead seemed imminent.  Woodlands lack of discipline was punished with a penalty try when we seemed certain to score another to Willy.  Herbie converted, and at 19-9, we knew we only had to score once more to make it certain.

Unfortunately, conditions, poor handling, and a determined Woodlands outfit meant they skidded over four minutes later to make it 19-14 and leave a tense last six minutes.  Luckily, again, one of their players got hurt and the ruck dominance message got out there again.

What really paid off though was Woodlands indiscipline – a late run by Towney, taken into touch, would have given the home side one last throw of the dice.  But a replacement lock decided to be clever and throw a punch under the club  rugby manager’s nose.  He couldn’t avoid noticing that and the late Herb penalty gave us the eight point buffer.

The match, whilst as usual enthralling, was disgraceful.  The pitch wasn’t up to scratch, a guy (with all due respect to Dave) who has been reffing Div 2 all year was thrown into Prems, and the club rugby manager didn’t bring out any comms gear for the touchies.  Can’t wait for the club rugby review.  Anyway, five wins on the trot now.  It will be a toughie next week out at Winton.  But well done boys – especially Elliott Mitchell, Sword, James Lew, and Daniel Roberts/Jeremy Borland.  Top effort chaps.

Road Safety Southland Blues 22( S Bradley, W Kamaru, penalty tries; N Herbert 2 con,  pen)  Woodlands 14 HT 5-3

ROUND THREE, GAME ONE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTH BLUES V Marist @ Les George Oval, June 11 2011

The lads were told before the game that this would be a defining match, that Marist would be up for it, and that we had to show we were a big game team.  The late withdrawals of Josh Brown and Elliott Dixon with injury didn’t affect preparations too much, with replacements Jeremy Borland and Willie Kamaru being in great form.

Marist were certainly up for it, and got stuck in from the kick off.  Blues’ focus on ruck defence during the week paid off, and some excellent midfield defence stopped a few promising Marist attacks in the first few minutes.  After six minutes, a stretched Blues’ defence was looking incredibly shaky out wide before a loose Marist pass was scopped up by Slim Low who fed Waaka Parkinson just outside Blues’ 22.

Waaks – in his 50th premier game – streaked 60m and slipped a tackle to score and put us up against the run of play.  Tintin converted from the sideline and Blues led 7-0.

Another Marist mistake after 11 minutes saw the second Blues score.  Marist kicked out on the full.  Tim Winsloe, who had an inspired game, saw the Marist defence wandering back, ran down the touch and fed a quick throw to a following Sam Muir.  Caught on the hop, Marist’s defence had no show of stopping the Hobbit who ran 22m to score easily.  Tin converted again at it was 14-0.

Five minutes later came the try of the game.  Simon Bradley made another of his elusive runs into Marist territory, setting up a ruck on the 30m mark.  The ball went wide and 0n the end of the chain was tighthead Daniel Roberts.  I was screaming at the backs to reload, thinking he would be run down, but the big fella proved us all wrong as he switched on the afterburners to outpace the defence and score in the corner.  19-0 up after 16 minutes.

We had a bit of bad luck after this, with Nicky Herbert having to leave the game coughing up blood.  Luckily it was just a scratched windpipe (I didn’t know Bird’s fingers were THAT long), but it caused a reshuffle.  Daniel Neho got Marist on the board with a penalty, and then they scored a converted try after 23 minutes to bring the scores back to 19-10.

Blues restored a bit of structure, and another sweeping attack from a Sam Muir sniping run saw Jeremy Borland rewarded for a powerful game with a try just adjacent to the sticks.  Tintin added the extras and it was 26-10 with time almost up.  Two Neho penalties before halftime brought it back to 26-16 at the break.

There were four messages at halftime – Control, Control, Control and Corners.  The control paid off after five minutes in the second as some great pressure saw Waaka get two and go to the top of the tryscorers list for the year to make it 31-16.

Tintin missed two penalties in quick succession before a deft Neho intercept (as usual, just after the ref had called ‘advantage over’) put Marist back in it at 31-23.  We didn’t lose any structure, but lost some of the combinations as injury and other requirements saw the bench emptied.  Marist kept on attacking, but mysteriously stopped using their two best weapons in midfield.  The game seesawed, and Marist attacks were repelled with some outstanding defence.  Towney was unlucky not to score after the ref ruled a flat pass from Tintin forward.

A Tintin penalty after 74 minutes made the margin 11 points before we finished off with a nice Simon Bradley try, converted by Tintin to win 41-23.

Great performance from the tight five, Michael Fatialofa was in busting and breaking mood at blindside, Mike Wilkins’ resurgence from old age continued, and the backs had a ball.  It was a dominant performance against a handy Marist XV and answered the questions posed by the coaches.  Still top.  Congrats Waaka on the 50th game – nice way to celebrate.

Road Safety Southland Blues 41( W Parkinson 2, S Muir, D Roberts, J Borland, S Bradley tries; J Wilson 4 con,  pen)  Marist 23 HT 26-16

ROUND TWO, GAME FIVE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Star @ Mud Central, June 4 2011

How the hell is the Martin St laundromat expected to get that shit out of our jerseys?  Anyway, quick one today based on Herb’s 30 point haul:

4 min: Nicky Herbert penalty 3-0

7: Barry Toogood soft  try, conversion charged down by Si Bradley 3-5

12; Tighthead Blues, out to Lewie, great run, off to the unstoppable Waaka. Herb converts 10-5

22: Pixie soft try. 10-10

28: Barry pen 10-13

32: Barry pen 10-16

35: Herbie intercept + con 17-16

39: Herbie pen 20-16

45: Barry pen 20-19

52: Waaka sets up Herb who converts 27-19

63: Fucking Barry, the Samoan bastard. 27-22

65: Lewie breaks through as usual (see that Goof?) off to Herb for the hat trick.  32-22

70: Shithouse, they had a clear knock on. 32-29

33: Herb penalty 35-29

Road Safety Southland Blues 35 ( N Herbert 3, W Parkinson tries; Herbert 3 con, 3 pen) Star 29 HT 20-16

ROUND TWO, GAME FOUR: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Pirates OB @ Centrepoint 7, May 28 2011

Having watched the Mighty Blue Machine under-11s get robbed in freezing wet conditions earlier in the day, I was expecting windy, wet rugby in the afternoon.  But Southland turned on a cracking afternoon for footy and we turned on some champagne rugby to go top of the table with a win over a tough Pirates team.

Missing James “Voulez Vous Couchez Avec Moi Ce Soir” Wilson and short on front rowers (why can’t 80 year olds have their birthdays outside of rugby season?) the team nevertheless had plenty of steel and began well, putting early pressure on the opposition.  It paid off after six minutes when Sam Muir did a classic halfback’s sniping run from a ruck 25m out to score.

Nick Herbert started a magnificient kicking display with the conversion and we were out 7-0.  The foot came off the pedal a little though, and Pirates came back with a soft try of their own to level things up three minutes later.  Both sides had fifteen minutes of interplay up and down the field with penalties exchanged before Pirates scored a second try to go out to a 10-15 lead.  The pace of the game was frenetic and the hard ground encouraged sweeping moves.

On the half hour, the vision and confidence of Richard Kamaru at first five saw a gap at the back of the Pirates defence and he dropped in a neat corner kick which Herbie was able to race on to, collect and score to level things up.  Some poor discipline from the opposing side gave Herbie two more easy penalties before the break, and we went into halftime 21-15 ahead.  There was still plenty of work to do, however, with the defensive pattern not settling well in certain areas.

Pirates, with attacking options throughout their backline, went ahead again after 10 minutes in the second stanza with a converted try.  Some determined defence out wide kept them from scoring two more tries, before Herbie knocked over two more penalties to put us ahead 27-22 after 53 minutes.  Shortly after the second penalty came the try of the game.  James Lew, playing at second five, got a ball with room to move.  He took on the Pirates midfield, bust through two tackles, and raced 70m to score a brilliant individual try.  Herbie’s conversion put us out to 34-22, but the game was by no means done and dusted.

Blues were exerting dominance, but someone forgot to tell Pirates they were under the pump and a simple move on the blind with a long pass saw them get back within seven points with 10 to go.  A penalty closed it up to 34-30 with six minutes left and the fingernails started to get a hammering.  To their credit, despite having very little left in the tank, the boys lifted another gear and some good ball retention and forward driving saw us in a position where veteran winger Simon Bradley was able to get over in the corner to put the nail in the coffin.

Top of the table and while there’s some little things to tidy up defensively, it was a pleasing performance.  Jason Gorton played exceptionally well in his first Premier match at loosehead, but it was the old warhorse Mike Wilkins who carried the day with a storming performance at lock.  Now on to Star and maintaining our record.

ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES 39 (N Herbert, S Muir, J Lew, S Bradley tries;  N Herbert 2 con, 5 pen) Pirates OB 30.  HT 21-15

ROUND TWO, GAME THREE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Midlands @ Blues International Stadium, May 21 2011

The old cliche was definitely true here – this was a game of two halves.  I can’t explain the first half – we weren’t as bad as a 0-20 halftime score would make out, but it didn’t help that the first try for Midlands was in touch before the ball was grounded.  Anyway, we put that behind us, and having a change of referees at halftime also helped as Scott Cowan was subbed and no longer able to run the game for the ref.

The introduction of Elliott “Terry Tate” Dixon at the break gave Blues an edge over the first 40 minutes’ dominance of the Midlands’ loosies and it paid off immediately as he made a great burst upfield.  The Midlands defence was split from the ensuing ruck and Simon Bradley was able to charge through to score.  Tintin converted and we’d started to pull back the big lead.

Midlands were still dangerous, and made several breaks that were shut down by a desperate defence.  Dicko put in a few big hits andthen scored his own try at the hour mark (again converted) to make the gap a converted try away.  Midlands still kept hammering away at us, but the foibles of the first half had been put to sleep.

After 33 minutes, Midlands tried to attack from out of their 22, but some great work by the forwards got quick turnover ball.  Tintin took it to the line before firing a nice pass out to Waaka Parkinson who made a beautiful run to score.  Tintin again converted and it was all on for young and old with seven minutes left with Blues finally ahead 21-20.

And what a ding-dong seven minutes it was, as both sides threatened from all over the park.  We had a great opportunity to score again with time almost up, but Midlands killed the ball and we got a rare penalty.  Tintin slotted it, and the great Houdini get-out-of-jail second half recovery was complete.

Top games from Dicko, Michael Peterson, and Fai Mika in his last game for the season before heading back to Tasman.  Sam Low was on fire in the pack.  Very very relieved.

ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES 24 (S Bradley, E Dixon, W Parkinson tries;  J Wilson 3 con,  pen) Midlands 20.  HT 0-20

ROUND TWO, GAME TWO: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Woodlands @ Blues International Stadium, May 14 2011

Another beautiful day at Blues International Stadium, but not such a beautiful result – masterminded in part by the brilliance of Woodlands’ five-eighth Marty McKenzie, who on the basis of this performance, will be an even better Stag than his old man was.

It was a to and fro for the whole game, with the score changing hands several times.  Still without Tintin, we opened the scoring after five minutes with a Nicky Herbert penalty before McKenzie returned the favour and then converted a Digger Taylor try after 10 minutes to see the visitors into the lead.

Herbie pulled the difference back to four points with another penalty before we started to break out a bit.  Sai Koroiadi scored a nice try after 26 minutes, and then we scored a beauty.  Sam Muir made a nice run before feeding off to Daniel “Petero” Roberts who tore down the wing on a 50m run.  He bounced off Tua Tuapati and fed the ball back to Muir who was backing up and able to run around behind the horns to score.  Herbie’s conversion took us out to 18-10, and we were looking pretty sharp.

Then the first half of the Marty McKenzie show started.  He kicked a penalty and set up a try right on halftime to have the score locked up at the break.

We tried our best to disrupt things by scoring a nice try to Lewie after a big bust by Fai Mika to go out to 25-18 after 46 minutes, but then McKenzie stepped up again.  Three penalties and a converted try to McKenzie in the space of 13 minutes gave Woodlands the lead again and they didn’t relinquish it.

Another Herbie penalty with 10 minutes to go got us back within six points at 28-34, but McKenzie showed a cool head to control play for the last part of the game and finished up with a drop goal to deny us any points.  Disappointing result, but the kid had the game of his short Premier life and you can’t begrudge that – it was pretty special to watch.

ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES 28 (S Muir, S Koroiadi, J Lew tries;  N Herbert 2 con,  3 pen) Woodlands 37.  HT 18-all

ROUND TWO, GAME ONE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Marist @ Rugby Park, May 4 2011

What is it with Towner and tries against Marist?  I need to check the records, but i think he’s scored one in nearly every game we’ve played against the Doolans since I started managing.  Tonight was no different, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

A massively reshuffled team due to injury and illness could have presented Marist with a psychological boost.  Instead, an inspired performance at five-eighth from Richard Kamaru and a brilliant defensive performance from our tighties and midfield got the boys into equal first place with Star.

On a night where rain threatened and the dew was heavy, the real boost for the Mighty Blue Machine was fullback Nicky Herbert, whose flawless kicking display got him 10 points and kept us well clear on the scoreboard.

The first half was no real spectacle, with both teams promising a lot but cancelling each other out.  Scott Eade opened the scoring for Marist after four minutes with a penalty he was never going to miss, while Herbie replied with one of his own from a handy position two minutes later to make it 3-all.  Herb slotted another after 13 minutes to make it 6-3 before both teams went back to their frustrating arm wrestle where periods of top play were offset by stoic defence and turnovers.

But then the two shortest players in the Blues side combined for a beauty try in the right-hand western corner after 20 minutes.  Petey took a stray lineout and set the ball up beautifully for The Muir, whose perfect box kick sat up once again beautifully for Towner to scream through and score.  The whole thing was beautiful. Herb duly converted from out wide, but at 13-8 I was still wound tighter than a tight thing.

It didn’t improve three minutes later, when one of Marist’s non-stop inside balls sent their number eight over out wide, but the usually safe Eade couldn’t convert and we still held a five point lead.

He missed a tough penalty four minutes later that wobbled outside the right hand upright at the last second, but that was our cue to kick off.  We dominated the next 10 minutes into halftime and got the reward.

Winger Micky Seymour made a brilliant run down the right hand touch.  The ball from an ensuing lineout somehow ended up on our side, and the safe hands of Willie “Aaron Davey” Kamaru picked it up off the grasstops and scored in the corner.  Herb converted another beauty and at oranges we were out to a 20-8 lead.

Marist realised we’d shut down their inside passes, and attacked using their more than able forward pack led by the evergreen Cardinal Sin Burgess.  But the defence was outstanding, with Elliott Mitchell, Towner, Petey and others giving their guts to create turnover ball or mistakes just as Marist had us stretched.  In the midfield, Lewie and Zane Hiko did the damage, and we were able to keep out the Green Tide.

A late appearance by Simon “Where’s My ****ing Boots?” Bradley almost led to another Blues try, but in the end good defence, reliable kicking games, and a scrum that was unfairly punished once again for being frighteningly good were the keys to this one.  Four more in the bank, still only one loss.  Enjoy duckshooting boys, for next up is time for some revenge.

ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES 20 (D Townson, W Kamaru tries tries;  N Herbert 2 con, 2 pen) Marist 8.  HT 20-8

ROUND ONE, GAME FIVE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Star @ Blues International Stadium, April 30 2011

On reflection, this was quite easily the most complete performance the Premiers have turned out in 2011.  It has to be on reflection, because the game itself left no time to think.  Star, bolstered by Super 15ers Brayden Mitchell, John “The Freak” Hardie and James Paterson but without that slippery bastard Mana “High Dive” Harrison, rolled out a pretty impressive team.

Injuries to James Wilson and Glen Horton caused a Saturday re-shuffle in Blues’ starting XV and gave us an early indication of what we could put on the paddock in round three.  As is usual in Star / Blues clashes, the first couple of minutes gave both sides a chance to impose some physicality on each other.

A Bubba Lau’ese break through some poor tackling in the second minute gave Hardie the chance to show how much gas he has as he sprinted 60m to score untouched.  Pale Tuilagi converted, and Star had an early ominous 7-0 lead.  Then they went quiet as we shored up the defence and started to put some of our own pressure on.  There was some good touchline to touchline moves from the Blues backline, ably led by Richard “22″ Kamaru at first five, but the last pass often either went astray or poor kicking options gave the ball back to Star.

Pale missed a penalty after 18 minutes, and Blues took the chance for a breather to further assert some dominance.  After 25 minutes James “Pint” Lew finally bust through the midfield and made a great run which set up a concerted forward drive for the posts.  The ruck close to the line allowed Sam Muir to pick up and dive for the simplest of tries adjacent to the horns.  Rua converted, and it was 7-each.

Star came back well, and both sides had opportunities which closed down thanks to some solid defence.  Just past the half hour, Star seemed certain to score with a four on one overlap out wide.  But Nicky “Useless” Herbert somehow managed to tap and hold a pass from the Star backs and took off, feeding Lewie who ran 80m before being caught from behind.  He had the ability to get his hands free and pop it up to Muir who fed on to an unmarked Waaka Parkinson who went in for our second try in the corner.  The conversion was away, but we had a lead that we held until halftime.

The highlights of the first half had to be our combinations and our defence.  Man of the match Theo Harden at second five made some huge tackles, wrapping up a lot of ball and stopping Star from getting it wide.  Those two highlights continued in the second half, with Lewie getting a deserved try after six minutes after a great run by Muir to make it 17-7.

Pale responded with a penalty to make it 17-10, and with 30 minutes to go, the game sparked into an even higher gear.

Star scored two sideline tries from long-range, and that 12 points put them into the lead.  We were still looking the dominant side, with the scrum monstering Star’s tighties, and the backs playing at a high level, but those two scores and only 10 minutes left meant it could all have been for nought.

But cool heads remained, and field position and solid ball retention and recycling kept us in the hunt.  As it was, the game swung on yet another midfield bust.  Either Lewie or Herbie (not sure, the red mist was starting to form before my eyes at this point) drew the midfielders in and popped a pass up to Bull “Mealamu” Matiaha who ran into a huge hole from 22 metres untouched to score by the posts.  Given that he’d already played 80 minutes for the Bs, he did a great job to be there for his second try in as many games.  Rua converted and we were 24-22 up and with a bonus point for four tries in the bank.

It didn’t end there though.  Confusion between Muir and Phil Johnston as to how much time was left saw us put the ball into touch twice thinking the game was over.  The ensuing scramble brought one of those horrible last second penalties, about 35m out and 10m in from touch.  Normally it would have been meat and drink for Pale, but thanks to the breeze and the power of prayer, the ball drifted to the right and the game was finally over.

Table-topping giantkillers once again, we can be very proud of the win and the manner in which it was achieved.  Standouts all over the park, with Theo one of them.  Now into the second round, four points off the top of the table but still firmly in second place.

Road Safety Southland Blues 24 (S Muir, J Lew, W Parkinson B Matiaha tries, R Kamaru 2 con) Star 22.  HT 12-7.

ROUND ONE, GAME FOUR: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Pirates OB @ Blues International Stadium, April 23 2011

Not only was it so wet that the dye ran out of my jocks, but my phone died due to water damage, and I think I’ve got trench foot.  Naturally then conditions were not leaning towards a game of running rugby, but the level of play from both sides belied the conditions.

Blues ran out a reasonably strong line up, missing Glen Horton but with James Wilson finally back on the bench. Pirates were missing Chris “Crystal” Jennings.  The early part of the game saw Blues dominated territory and possession, but an early penalty opportunity after five minutes was pushed by Rua (which may have been my fault) and after five more minutes of ding and counter-dong, the scoring was opened by Elgan O’Donnell who put Pirates on the board with a penalty.

We then struck another scrum problem.  There’s not much point having a dominant scrum if referees aren’t going to apply the rules.  Pirates halfback Jesse Gibb repeatedly delayed in put-ins and Blues were pinged for pushing early.  Now, once two front rows come together, if one is dominant, having to wait for the half to put the ball in is going to give the impression of pushing early.  I’d just like to bring the following to all referees’ attention:

20.5 THROWING THE BALL INTO THE SCRUM No Delay. As soon as the front rows have come together, the scrum half must throw in the ball without delay.

Not take long enough to sing the first verse of the national anthem and then put it in.  The ignorance of this rule evened up the possession stakes, and with slippery balls and skiddy passes making play difficult, both sides ploughed their way up and down the track in an attempt to get the other to crack.  It was not until five minutes before halftime that we finally got on the board, as Rua kicked his first penalty of the day to make it 3-all.

That success seemed to lift our game a notch or two, and the boys put five minutes of solid pressure on before a brilliant run by Towney down the right hand touch got us to a ruck just outside the Pirates goal line.  A few pick and goes later, hooker Bull Matiaha got driven over for his first try in Blues’ colours.  Rua kicked a sweet conversion 15m to the right of the sticks, and we headed into the break 10-3 up.

The arm wrestle continued in the second half as the weather got worse, but we seemed to have the upper hand.  A need to kick the corners wasn’t going entirely to plan, and as it was, an intercepted kick got us right in the crapper.  Sammy Lewlangiangi dragged in an attempted downfield kick and screamed away.  It quite clearly appeared he had lost the ball in forcing it, but as usual, benefit of the doubt went against us and it was back to 10-8.  An O’Donnell penalty three minutes later put Pirates back in the lead, and it took two Rua penalties after 20 and 32 minutes to make the game secure.

Ugly conditions, both teams tried their best, but in the end we were just pleased to get the W.  Top effort from Mike and Brendan Wilkins when they came on in the second half, and a tidy performance from Micky Seymour at halfback and Rua at first-five.  Still a lot of work to do on discipline and aimless kicking, but a win is a win, even if it means pneumonia.  (PS How ****ing galling was it to see the sun come out 15 minutes after the finish?)

Road Safety Southland Blues 16 (B Matiaha try, R Kamaru con, 3 pen) Pirates OB 11.  HT 10-3.

ROUND ONE, GAME THREE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Midlands @ Midlands, April 16 2011

You know your kids are growing up when your 10-year old gives you a five minute spray that begins with “What?  How did you lose to Midlands?”  It’s a valid question that comes down to one word.  Defence.  Re-reading the notes from the game, the words ‘poor ruck defence…try’ and ‘poor defence out wide…try’ pop up four times.  Our defence out wide was terrible in the first half, and our ruck defence was terrible in the second half.

To be fair, Scott Cowan turned over more ball than Richie McCaw, and our protection of possession was shocking.  Was nice to see Micky Seymour get a couple playing in the unaccustomed position of winger (he would have had three had the touch judge grown a pair), and Richard Kamaru turned in a solid performance at first five in the second half, but by and large as a team performance, we were mud.  Not lots to work on, but certainly some significant areas.

Road Safety Southland Blues 10 (M Seymour 2 tries) Midlands 29.  HT 5-17.

ROUND ONE, GAME TWO: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Woodlands @ Woodlands, April 9 2011

Two 20-minute periods where the Mighty Blue Machine went off the boil were enough to turn this game from a relatively comfortable exercise in solid teamwork to a last minute get-out-of-jail 32-all draw.  A week of crap weather gave way two hours before kickoff to another glorious autumn day at the swede paddock.

Some enforced changes, namely at first-five where Theo Harden came in for the injured James Wilson, and the missing Seminar Manu meant there wasn’t the usual depth in the 22, but the players chosen were all still good enough to do what needed to be done.  After five minutes, an attack into the Woodlands 22 saw Woodies try to pass their way out of danger and a slipping Sam Muir managed to tip and catch an intercept to go over for the first score in the right hand corner.

Herbie, assuming the kicking duties for the day, nailed the conversion and we were out to a 7-0 lead.  Woodlands hit back almost immediately with their own intercept and scamper for the line and it was 7-5.

The first few scrums were a Blues benefit until the Woodlands front row realised they could just stand up without any repercussions, and it was from a dominant set piece that the second try came after 12 minutes.  James Lew made a great busting run straight through the midfield before getting his hands free and feeding off to debutant Jaykib Collins who basketballed it to a flying Glen Horton who scored in a similar position to Muir.  Herb nailed another good conversion and it was more than a point a minute at 14-5.

A Robbie Robinson penalty from the beginning of an ill-disciplined period for the Mighty Blue Machine kept the home side in touch, but two minutes later Lewie got the reward for a good first quarter.  Herbie made a great 30m run down the left hand touch, was finally caught just outside the 22, but the ball came free to the Australian import who outran the defence to score a nice try.  The conversion missed, but it was still more than a point a minute.

Then came the difficult 20 minutes.  Poor discipline, some confusion in option-taking, and an inability to direct play to where the strengths were left us bumbling a bit.  A Robinson penalty and then poor defence let in Woodlands to make it 19-18.  Right on the stroke of halftime more individual brilliance by Mr Muir saw him cross for his second to make the halftime score 24-18.  But there needed to be more thought put in to the second half.

It didn’t start well, with Woodies scoring a soft try in the first minute of the half to take the lead.  For the next 24 minutes, we vainly tried to get on top, but every time we got to a position of dominance, possession was given away.

It took the wise head of Waaka Parkisnon, who replaced Collins at halftime, to get us back into the lead.  He made a gliding run down the right hand touch, and as it appeared the defence was going to catch him, broke away with Robinson to beat.  A poor head-high tackle from the Woodies fullback was shrugged off by Colonel Parkinson and he had the drive (with some assistance) to go the final 10 metres for our fifth try and put us back in the lead, 29-25 with 15 minutes to go.

It was to no avail, though, as a freak chip and chase gave Woodies their fourth try three minutes later.  The conversion gave them a 3-point lead as we headed into the final 10 minutes.  Luckily the assuredness seen in the first quarter returned, but try as we might, we couldn’t break through the defence in the centre of the field.  Luckily, as time ticked towards 80 minutes, we got a penalty out in front and Herbie put his kicking boots back on to slot the equalling score.

It was still three points, and much better than a loss, but there’s some head scratching to be done.  Well played Sam Muir, James Lew and the tight five.  Merit awards to Theo Harden and Nick Herbert.

Road Safety Southland Blues 32 (S Muir (2), G Horton, J Lew, W Parkinson tries; N Herbert 2 con, 1 pen) Woodlands 32.  HT 24-18.

ROUND ONE, GAME ONE: ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES v Marist @ Miller St, April 2 2011

It’s been said many times before that I hate playing Marist at Marist in the first game of the season.  It’s always unbelievably hot, and we could roll out a team stacked with All Blacks and still lose.  Nerves were a-jangling today pre-match, given that we haven’t beaten this hoodoo in my nine years as manager.

Today, between about the 10th and the 29th minute, I did briefly think the hoodoo was going to carry on.  Marist came at the Mighty Blue Machine with wave after wave of attacks from all over the show.  While we were getting some good width, we were unable to break the defence.  And then along came The Manu*.

It was 3-6 at the time, Tinny and Scott Eade trading penalties (man that Eade boy can kick, even if a couple of them were given the benefit of the doubt by the touchies).

The Manu broke the impasse with a well-taken try which went unconverted to put us back in the lead, and then did some impressive running to draw the defence from the restart before debutant centre James Lew made a pearler of a run to send perennial poacher Towney away for a score in the corner.  Now reunited with his own tee, Tintin nutted the conversion from the sideline and we had shot out to a 15-6 lead after half an hour.

Tin knocked over another penalty after 34 minutes to make it 18-6 and Eade replied with his own to take us into halftime at 18-9.  The highlights of the first half were the complete and utter dominance of our scrum platform, the mini-Towney, Billy “I Just Want The Ball” Soper, and two ultimately fruitless but nonetheless impressive runs from the old legs of Mike “I’ve Been Doing Sprint Training” Wilkins.

I missed most of the chat at halftime, instead choosing to play mind games with the Marist team by chatting to the referee about the weather while throwing my arms about and pointing my finger at him.

Whatever was said worked, as after five minutes a great break by Tintin and a feed off to Lew saw him break two tackles on a barnstorming 30m run under the horns to make it 25-9.  James Lew should be captain of the Australian cricket team, because at least then they’d take no shit and get the job done.  ‘Nuff said.  Dunno what he’s like at cricket, but hey he’s Australian – don’t they all play at a higher level than our Plunket Shield players?

Anyway, back to the game.  Great hands and a nice run by Theo Harden saw space for Nicky Herbert down the left wing side and after a couple of missed opportunities in the first half the Burglar went in to make it 30-9 with Tin’s conversion hitting the post.

Marist ran interference off the ref to score a converted try after 20 minutes, but almost immediately the returning Glen Horton carved through the defence to score another good try and take it out to 37-16.  Marist picked up another after 32 minutes when Eade picked up a loose ball and dotted down, but we struck back again as Herbie screamed through to score his second and end the game.

We still have quite a bit to work on, but the pleasing aspects were the scrum, our new loosies, and the back combinations.  44-23 is a good way to break the drought at Miller St.  Congratulations to Bull Matiaha on his premier debut and birthday!  Top day in that house!  Congrats to other debutants James Lew, Billy Soper,  Elliott Mitchell, and Micky Seymour.  Top job fellas.

ROAD SAFETY SOUTHLAND BLUES 44 (N Herbert 2, J Lew, S Manu, D Townson, G Horton tries; J Wilson 4 con, 2 pen) Marist 23.  HT 18-9

2010 Match Reports

We beat Pirates Old Boys 45-12 ( HT 7-12) (E Dixon, S Muir, N Herbert, S Winsloe, t Winsloe (2), G “El Bulgerino” Horton tries; JWR Wilson 5 con.)

We lost to Woodlands 25-37 (HT 6-15)  (S Muir, G Horton, D Townson tries; J Wilson 2 con, 2 pen)

ROUND THREE: GAME 13: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 24, Star 43 (HT 24-18)

Firstly, some good news.  The Premier Bs played out of their collective skin to pull off the upset of the year in beating Star 10-8 in the curtainraiser.  A beauty intercept try to flying winger Josh Heke, and a conversion and penalty by Branton Buckley knocked off a team previously untouchable.

Now for the bad news.  For an hour, Blues led and looked the goods against a willing Star team.  Dominant at scrum time (what does it take to get more than one penalty against a loosehead who is either a) not binding, or b) standing up constantly?) and with the backs looking flashy as a flashy thing, it seemed we were in control.  Then, on the hour mark, it was one high shot too many for ref Mike Bowman, who sent Tintin to the bin. While he was away, Star scored 19 unanswered points.  Wake up call?  You bet.

4 min: Tintin penalty, 3-0.

7 min: Star penalty, 3-3.

11 min: Good vision and a great wide bomb from Seminar out to an unmarked Sam Winsloe who caught it and scored.  Tin converted from wide out.  10-3.

19 min: Elliott Dixon makes a huge charge (one of many) down the right wing, gassing Tony Koonwayiou on the way, fires a one-handed pass in the tackle inside to a supporting Tintin who scores and converts, 17-3.

23 min: Against the run of play, poor tackling lets Star break out and score, 17-10.

32 min: ED takes advantage of some good work up the middle by the forwards to make another charge, sets up in the middle of the 22, off to Tintin who feeds Sem who goes through the defence to score under the horns.  Tin converts, 24-10.

33 min: Star try, 24-15.

39 min: Star penalty, 24-18.

60 min: Star try, converted, 24-25.

63 min: Star try, converted, 24-32.

68 min: Star try, 24-37.

75 min: Star penalty, 24-40.

80 min: Star drop goal, 24-43.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 24 (S Winsloe, J Wilson, S Manu tries; J Wilson 3 con, 1 pen), Star 43.

ROUND THREE: GAME 12: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 56, Marist 15 (HT 6-10)

There’s a story about the famous Canterbury versus Auckland Shield Challenge of 1984 halftime speech from Grizz Wyllie.

Down 24-0, Grizz grabbed a ball on the way out to talk to his players.

“This,” he said holding the ball, “is what it’s all about.  Get it, and use it.”

A similar speech on Saturday, albeit peppered with a few more expletives and concerning our discipline at the tackle, turned a 6-10 halftime deficit into 40 minutes of rout as the boys responded with 50 points in the 56-15 win.

The first half was ugly, as the message surrounding the ruck clearly didn’t get through and we were blown off the park.  Fortunately Daniel Neho didn’t have his kicking boots on, missing four shots.  Hua Tamariki and Tai Henry did the business instead, dotting down after 25 and 40 minutes to give Marist the halftime lead to two James Wilson penalties.

Wilson opened the scoring post the halftime diatribe with a well-taken sideline try, which he converted, and then a good drive from the forwards after 8 minutes dragged in the Marist defence and allowed Sam Muir to race 22m from the base of the ruck to make it 20-10 after 8 minutes.

Being gifted with supernatural powers, I did turn to Bulge on the sideline at this point and said that we would quickly score another couple to make it 34-10, then have a rest before winning by 56-10.  True story.

After 14 minutes, Tim Winsloe, playing second five for his 50^th premier game, cut through the midfield and could possibly have gone all the way, but he generously passed it off to Richard Kamaru, who carried on the move to score under the horns.  Continuing the Winsloe dominance, brother Sam grabbed an intercept from a promising Marist move and sprinted 45m to score.  It was 34-10 with 20 minutes to go, and I was right, we did have a wee rest.

Marist scored after a sustained period of attack to make it 34-15, and a minute later Tintin kicked his third penalty of the day to take us out to 37-15.

Then Fili Tagicakibau scored what was a contender for try of the match with a beautiful weaving, in and out run through the defenders.  44-15.

Tintin, having kicked impeccably all day, then decided he would like another try.  He cut through the defence on halfway, and with no one in sight, set off for the posts.  He didn’t spot the speedy Neho though, who ankle tapped him with a despairing dive and then forced a knock on to stop Tin.  I feel a fine coming on…

It didn’t matter much, however, as our forwards overpowered a tiring Marist scrum and the ball popped out for Sean Wilkins to pick up and stroll a few metres for the score. 51-15.

Right on full time, skipper Daniel Townson made one of his customary breaks up the field, drew the defence and fed off to Waaka Parkinson who outran the cover from the 22m to go in a end the scoring.  Unfortunately, due to a number of match balls going into the trees at Les George, Tintin had to use a training ball, and his sideline attempt missed.

From the disappointment of the first half to the highs of the second half, it was a mixed game, but the result well and truly put the Midlands upset behind us.

Great to see big Elliot Dixon turn in a storming performance in front of his visiting parents, and we have to give a mention to Daniel Roberts’ Manu Vatuvei impersonation in scoring a try in the early game for the Bs.

Now for Star.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 56 (J Wilson, W Parkinson, S Wilkins, F Tagicakiabu, S Winsloe, R Kamaru, S Muir tries; Wilson 6 con, 3 pen) Marist 15.  HT 6-10.

Player of the Day points: Sam Muir 3, Sam Winsloe 2, James Wilson 1.

ROUND THREE: GAME 11: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 12, Midlands 22 (HT 0-9)

One of the frustrating things this year has been the different interpretations referees bring to the tackled ball area.  Just when we think we have them all sussed, along comes another with a differing look at what goes on in the tackle.
Unfortunately on Saturday it took us too long to adapt and cost us 9 points in the meantime, then it nullified our loose forwards.
But just like playing in the wet, one must make the most of the conditions one plays under.
It wasn’t the flashest display by Blues this year, and the whole team seemed a little flat for such a big occasion.  Midlands came prepared though, and played extremely well.  Under grey skies and in a swirling breeze, the match kicked off with both teams playing out a settling in period before the first penalty in the ruck came after 12 minutes.
Aaron Kimura, who still has all the skills, nutted it and Midlands went up 3-0.  A similar penalty 12 minutes later doubled the score.
Even playing at 75% as a team, Blues made some impressive forays, but to no avail as the Midlands defence held firm.  Kimura knocked over another ruck infringement after 38 minutes to make it 9-0, and a 51m attempt from James Wilson just fell short as the teams went to jellybeans.
Blues’ tackling allowed Midlands to make more ground than they should have in the first half, and the lack of first-up tackles continued in the second half when Midlands’ Super 14 halfback Scott Cowan made light of a mass of Blues defenders to run 35m on the angle to score.  Kimura converted, and it was 16-0 and there was a fair bit of angst on the sideline.
Kimura compounded the score with another penalty after 48 minutes.
The Blues boys managed to get back into the game through James Wilson and Richard Kamaru deciding that taking on the line was a better way to try and make forward motion.
Tintin carved through for a brilliant individual try after 57 minutes, and then repeated the dose six minutes later to make it 19-12 with a good 15 minutes still remaining.
But the resurgence fell a bit flat with yet another Aaron Kimura penalty with 10 minutes to play, and that was that.
Lots to work on before Marist at Centrepoint 4 this week.  But at least we know what we did wrong.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 12 (J W R Wilson 2 tries, 1 con) Midlands 22 (S Cowan try; A Kimura con, 5 pen)

PLAYER OF THE DAY POINTS: Richard Kamaru 3, James Wilson 2, Haedyn Fahey 1

ROUND TWO: GAME 10: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 20, Pirates Old Boys 10  (HT 20-5)

Well, Mr James William Rangi Wilson may have got that 100 points (in only seven games, too) but it was a less than 100 performance from the usually Mighty Blue Machine on a heavy track today.

After losing two players in the first minute of the Bs game (won by the Potsy and Pockets XV 45-7), Pirates OB lost former Blue Rocky in the first couple of minutes with a dislocated shoulder.

Any thoughts of a repeat on the scoreboard were dispelled as Pirates belied their standing on the points table to take us on.  But first, the first half.We began the scoring after seven minutes when a great run by captain Towney down the left wing ended with a beaut inside ball to Seminar Manu who ran 20m to score.

Tintin converted (92 points) and we were out 7-0.Unfortunately our dominance in the first quarter was slightly unravelled when poor treatment of a POB clearing kick led to them camping inside our 5m for a period before they managed to score.  Elmo was unable to convert, and so it was 7-5.

A Tintin miss from 45m four minutes later left the scores the same, but exactly 60 seconds later he was on target from 25m wide out to make it 10-5.

A similar penalty a few minutes later made it 13-5, and had we been more diligent around the rucks we would have been even further ahead.Nevertheless, with the clock ticking quickly down to halftime, a great passage of play by our forwards led to clean ball being laid on (for once) to Mr Muir, who fed Mr Wilson, who worked a beautiful cut with Mr Tagicakibau who dotted next to the sticks.

Tintin brought up the ton from in front, and we headed to the shed 20-5 in front.

Second half: no ball.  Missed tackles.  Vision askew.  Must try harder if we want to get past Midlands next week. Nuff said.

PS Congrats James.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 20 (S Manu, F Tagicakibau tries; J Wilson 2 con, 2 pen) Pirates OB 10  HT 20-5.

Player of the Day: Daniel Townson 3, James Wilson 2, Filimoni Tagicakibau 1

ROUND TWO: GAME 9: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 39, Woodlands 16 @ Woodlands.  (HT18-11)

If last week was a real surprise, this was supposed to be more of a test.  While Woodies had some players missing, out on the old swede paddock it’s always hard yakka.  And so it began on a beautiful Southland afternoon, after the Premier Bs had walloped Woodlands seconds 41-20 thanks to Bino’s inspirational leadership, we trotted out and ran straight into trouble after two minutes when Woodies scored.

The boys regrouped and came right back, bombing a try, but the always reliable boot of Mr Wilson landed our first points after eight minutes to make it 3-5.  He missed a 45m effort four minutes later, but more worrying were the first up tackles we were missing.  The secondary defence held tough though, and we stayed hard on attack for Tintin to put us in front 6-5 two minutes later with a nice strike from out left on the 22.

Stu Brown got the lead back for our hosts three minutes later, and the game settled into a bit of a struggle before the Tintin magic saw him scythe through from halfway to feed Tim “Killer” Winsloe who charged up the paddock and drew three defenders before (God knows how) slipping the pass to Mr Horton who is showing more and more of his class with every game.  Bulge went over in the corner, and we were up 11-8.  Stu made it 11-all after 25 minutes, and Woodies made some stern charges down the right hand touch which tested our defence.

Once again though, a man down (Towner got binned for something only a ref could bin someone for) the Tintin magic came off after some outstanding pick and go work from our Blue forwards got go forward ball into the Woodlands half.  Tintin took it to the line, drew the defence and passed a flat ball to Jeremy “The Truckanator” Borland who in turn drew and passed to Daniel “A Try Every Two Years” Roberts who went in untouched.  Tin converted 2m in from touch and that was halftime at 18-11.

We had quite a bit of ball in the second half’s early stages, but could not finish off promising moves, and let Woodlands have a few cracks at our line.  Then, for the second week in a row, we had ten minutes of utter madness.

Tintin missed a penalty after 57 minutes, but three minutes later in almost exactly the same spot, re-gathered his own chip to feed off to Towney in the tackle and he went in to score.  Tin converted from the sideline.  25-11.  Fiveminutes later another beaut kick (this time a crossfield wipers kick) was re-gathered by Ratu who scored.  Another Wilson conversion and it was 32-11.  Four minutes after that Nicky Herbert, playing at centre after Seminar pulled out with a sore leg, did his trademark scream through the middle for 22m to score.  Conversion over and it’s 39-11.

Right on time one of the tries of the game was scored, a 100m end-to-end beauty finished off with a very gay Sam Muir dive. 44-11? Nope.  The plonker from South Canterbury running touch had his flag out.  He reckoned Muir was in an offside position when he passed the ball on out tryline to spark the move.  As Muir is the halfback, and the ball had come back from a ruck, how the &^%$ could that be?  He later changed his story to say Daniel Roberts had stomped someone.  Anyone who knows the Large Brown Eviscerator knows he doesn’t stomp.  Anyway, deflated and knowing time was up, we let in a soft try which the head coach took as the end of the world until we calmed him down.

Very good game, still more to work on though, but nice to see Sean Wilkins back and playing after too long on the sidelines.  Pirates OB next week and then round three.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 39 (G Horton, D G Roberts, D P Townson, F Tagicakibau, N Herbert tries; J W R Wilson 2 pen, 4 con)  Woodlands 16.

POD: Sam Winsloe 3, Tim Winsloe 2, Sam Low 1

NB Tintin now on 90 points for the season….

ROUND TWO: GAME 8: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 57, Star 20, Blues International Stadium (HT 40-3)

I’m still waiting for my wife to wake me up and remind me to mow the lawns.  Surely this must have been a dream.  As it was, I just about had to go and have a lie-down after halftime, and I definitely did after full time.  Ever since I got sucked into the great Blues vortex, no matter how good we have been, we have never been able to either a) beat the Star bogey or b) when we do, put them away convincingly.  Today was just an exorcism of the highest order.

Both teams observed a minute’s silence for Blues’ legend Evan MacLellan before kick off, and then it was the beginning of one of the mightiest Blues’ efforts I have ever seen – right up there with the 2005 Shield win.

After just two minutes, a spirited break by the skipper saw Towney draw and pass beautifully to put Fili Tagicakibau in for try number one.  Tintin converted, and I was thinking “oh oh, Star won’t like that.”  Sure enough, they didn’t and came back with some robust forward play to put our boys under some pressure.  But whatever Slick, Meeks and Junior have been feeding them mentally, it worked, and just before the quarter hour we scored again.

Talented hooker Jeremy Borland saw there was no one home at the back for Star and placed an educated hoof to a high ball that created havoc.  Towney was there again to toe through, and from the ensuing drop out, the Bulge made a sensational run (one of many for the day) from the back before feeding off to the Muir who began a halcyon day for halfbacks by scoring.  He didn’t make it easy for Tin though, but 12-0 was a good place to be.

The ding-dong continued, and our outstanding ruck defence and the small retaining wall that is Seminar Manu stopped the ensuing Star attacks.  After 21 minutes Pale “Bluey” Tuilagi decided that they should take the points for a change and made it 12-3.

Five minutes later, the BOOM came for the most brutal 10 minutes of footy I have ever seen at BIS.

The forwards attacked brilliantly into the Star 22, recycled excellent ball for Muir, who fed out to Mr Manu who – amputated finger or not – carved through from the 22 to score a lovely solo try.  Tin had the radar on again and it was 19-3.

From the kickoff melee, Muir was on song again with an excellent sniping, fast hedgehog kind of run into the Star red zone.  From the ruck the ball came quickly to Tin who fed across to po-po country as Mike Peterson and then Daniel Roberts handled before Dano scored his best try since the 80m weaving run against Riverton in ’05.  Tin knocked it over from out front, and it was 26-3.

Three minutes later Richard Kamaru barged his way through to free up the ball for Tintin to run in from the 22 untouched, 33-3, and then three minutes after that Muir made another beautiful dart down the left hand touch before feeding Towney who scored.  Another conversion to Mr Wilson and it was 40-3 with halftime looming.

A soft try on the hooter gave Star no consolation, but just fired our boys up, knowing there was no way the second half could ever be like the first.

Star roared into us from the restart, but after five minutes of struggle we finally got the ball away to the right where Towney popped up again to draw and pass and let Fili go for 70m this time and make it 45-8.

After 65 minutes, despite some solid Star pressure, some excellent work by the forwards to get upfield saw Tintin drift and drift so much the Star defence was hypnotized, allowing him to pass to Glen Horton who scored his first points in the blue and black – 52-8.

To their credit, Star kept the hammer down, and were rewarded with a good try to Pale after 74 minutes, before Blues’ unluckiest player of the day, Nicky Herbert, got the try that had eluded him three times during the course of the game.  Once again set up by everywhere-man Wilson, Herb got the five pointer to put us out to 57-13.

Star scored again on fulltime, but despite the last ten minutes being theirs, we pulled off a win I never thought I would see.

Everyone needs to take a bow for that, not least of whom are the coaches.  It’s coming together, boys.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 57 (Filimoni Tagicakibau 2, Sam Muir, Seminar Manu, Daniel Roberts, James Wilson, Daniel Townson, Glen Horton, Nicky Herbert tries; James Wilson 6 con) STAR 20.

Player of the day points: James Wilson 3, Seminar Manu 2, Jeremy Borland 1

ROUND TWO: GAME 7: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 25, Marist 25, Les George Oval (HT 7-8)

Congrats to Daniel Roberts on his 150th Premier game in blue and black.  I missed the first half due to my presence being required at a very important meeting.  Brushing that aside without displaying rude haste, I arrived at LGO to find we were down 7-8 to the Papists.  What I got from the first half was that Geordie Eade had caught the uncatchable, or picked up the unpickupable (depending on who you talked to) to scamper in for a try three minutes short of halftime when we were down 0-8, and that a certain loose forward (who shall go unnamed) had got white line fever and missed another potential score.  Never mind, the lucky charm arrived on the sideline and away we went for the second half only one point down.

The charm obviously wasn’t working as Marist shot through a large hole in midfield to score after 45 minutes to make it 13-7, but that little battler, Mr S G Muir, restored the balance just four minutes later after some great attacking play that got us within five of the Marist chalk.  James Wilson converted, and we were in front for a change, 14-13.

The try seemed to spark us, and a brilliant charge up the paddock led to a Richard Kamaru try after 53 minutes.  Tin couldn’t convert that one, but 19-13 and our growing dominance seemed to indicate the boys were on the way up.  Some beautiful runs by Nicky Herbert (who took a crosskick with no-one in front, only to have Iona “The Magician” Sipa appear out of nowhere to slow him down) and Glen Horton came to nothing, but a run by Horts did set up a certain seven-pointer.  It just became uncertain, very quickly, and the chance was lost.

A Tintin 40m penalty knocked us out to 22-13 with a quarter left.  And then came Marist.  A clean take by Ben Nally at the kickoff ended up setting up a try after 65 minutes  (22-18), before Tin put another over with seven to go to make to 25-18.  Then…I don’t really want to talk about it, but Bird scored, and Daniel Neho, who hadn’t had his kicking boots on just to the left of the post, nailed one from the sideline.  And that was that.

Nice to see Kendrick Lynn on the sideline – good luck for Friday Kenny, and hurry back.  Many thanks to S Colyer for managing the team with aplomb not normally seen in Blues management, and special kudos for doing it on his wife’s 21st birthday.  Not many roosters would get away with that!

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 25 (G Eade, R Kamaru, S Muir tries;  J Wilson 2 pen, 2 con) Marist 25.

POD: Elliot Dixon 3, James Wilson 2, Haedyn Fahey 1

ROUND TWO: GAME 6: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 29, Midlands 25, Winton (HT 29-3)

It’s always interesting to see how players react when they have 40 minutes without the ball.  I’d prefer they did it when I wasn’t there, as apparently taking too many heart pills can make one prone to violence.  Luckily we held on and so my dastardly plan of ripping someone’s kidneys out didn’t have to come to pass.

As usual, the freezing blustery conditions in Vegas were missing at tropical Winton, and while the ground might have been heavy, the Blues boys didn’t seem to mind in the first half as we trotted out to celebrate Sam “Call Me That Again And I’ll Slot You” Muir’s 100th premier game.

Things didn’t start so well from the kickoff, with a spurious accusation that Blues forwards had contrived to shepherd at the kick off take.  Aaron Kimura slotted the ensuing penalty, but two minutes later Tintin showed that what he could do, we could do better.

From the start, Blues’ combinations worked like the old cliche involving machines and oil, but it took until 24 minutes for things to come to fruition.  Simon Bradley’s long-lost twin brother Nicky “Manu” Herbert shot down the left wing like a copper chasing a handbag snatcher, and with the ball held up five metres out we were awarded a penalty. Mr 100 flicked it out to Tin who threw a long ball to Sammy Winsloe who went over to score his second try of the season.  Tin converted, and we were out to a deserved 10-3 lead.

Just a few minutes later, a great corner kick by Tin allowed Fili to catch Willie Umu just short of the line.  Midlands kicked it clear to Kent Anderson, who threw it to Elliott “Just Like Knocking Down Doors At School” Dixon who barged over, around and through tacklers to score under the horns.  Conversion to Mr Wilson and it was 17-3 after 27 minutes.  On the stroke of 33 minutes, a brutal (and I mean brutal.  He was charging like a 100kg old lady chasing someone who’s grabbed her handbag) Filimoni made a huge run through the Midlands defence at high speed to set up Rua for the third try of the day.  22-3.

Just when it looked like she was all over bar the jellybeans for halftime, Midlands tried a break out from near their line, and had the ball bounce around before Jeremy “David Beckham” Borland showed superb soccer skills to knock it up into the arms of the centurion who ran like a bag snatcher being chased by a copper untouched for 20 metres to score behind the sticks.  Another Wilson conversion and it was oranges at 29-3.  The first half was superb – backs and forwards worked in tandem and the plays looked exactly like a training run.

The second half, on the other hand, was an exercise in frustration.  To give them credit though, Midlands’ introduction of Ray Hemi gave them a spark lacking at the breakdown in the first half, even if he did get targeted by a certain lock with big shoulders.  Midlands scored after 4 minutes to make it 29-8.  Tintin missed a penalty two minutes later, and that was the last we saw of the pill.  Converted tries after 10 and 22 minutes brought it back to 29-22, a Kimura penalty at 32 minutes made it 29-25, and then it was ‘hold on for grim death’ time.

A couple of lapses aside, our defence was outstanding and well-organised.  But sheesh.  I could do without the close finishes boys.  Anyhow, top of the table on points differential, so one has to be happy….

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 29 (S Winsloe, E Dixon,  R Kamaru, S Muir tries; J W R Wilson 3 con, 1 pen), Midlands 25.  HT 29-3

Player of the Day points: Tintin 3, Elliott 2, Fili 1.

ROUND ONE, GAME 5: BLUES 24, Pirates OB 10, Scuzzy Park

Can’t really tell you too much about this game as I wasn’t entirely focused. So here it is in bullet points:

• Is two-try Herbert the new Simon Bradley?
• Did Tim Winsloe have to go hunting?
• Why don’t we play the game at OUR tempo?
• Gotta love Chris “I’m Only Good For 40″ Jennings.  67.5 wasn’t too bad, eh CJ?
• Why are we getting all the funny bounces this year? Good Afterble Constanoon would have got a hat trick otherwise.
• Herbert owes Horton a beer
• If you win a tighthead off us,  don’t celebrate, because it allows Towner to score when you don’t tidy up the heel.
• First conversion from the sideline with that ****ing wind: has Tintin found God?  If he has, can he give his phone number to Ange?
• Is Sean Colyer a better manager than that obnoxious little bastard?
• Is Roy a better physio than Ange?
• Does Seminar Manu ever stop training?
• What will Sam Low spend his Alehouse voucher on?

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 24 (N Herbert (2), D Townson tries; J W R Wilson 3 con, 1 pen), Pirates OB 10.  HT 14-0

Player of the Day points: Nicky Herbert 3, Sam Winsloe 2, Towney 1. Bon voyage Mike Townson and Heath Kevern.  We’ll see you once the Australian Federal Police catch up with youse.

ROUND ONE , GAME 4: BLUES 23 V Woodlands 20 , 10 April, BLUES INTERNATIONAL STADIUM

As Pup noted after the game, it was one of those matches – Woodies dominated the first 20, we dominated the next 40, and then had to hold on for the last 20 before squeezing this one out.  Another gloriously (some of the fatties might say too glorious) fine days at Blues International Stadium for the clash of the second and third placed teams.  Tim Winsloe aside, we had pretty much the top XV on the paddock with the debuts of Glen Horton and Elliott Dixon in the blue and black.

The match opened disastrously with Woodies scoring a rather soft try in the second minute to Tua Tuapati which Stu Brown duly converted from close to make it 0-7.  Having woken up, we worked our way back into it, with a beautiful passing move on our side of halfway taking us into Woodies territory where we were duly awarded a penalty 40m out.  Tintin’s usually unerring boot hooked it wide though, and the score remained the same.

Woodies exposed our ruck defence a couple of times to open up and get away down the western touch, but our defence in our 22 became rock-solid, and some great lineout takes against the throw by Messrs. Wilkins and Low gave us much needed ball.

The game went back into see-saw mode until the 12th minute, when Tin landed an easy penalty from 25m to put us on the board.  The impetus was dragged away again though six minutes later when Horts was undone by an unfortunate kick bounce which went through his legs and allowed the Woodlands attackers to pour through, collect and score.  The message from the coaches to “root the ball out of our 22″ was passed on with immediate effect.  Another Tintin penalty two minutes later got us back to 6-12, and the Mighty Blue Machine started to put its scrum and lineout dominance to better use.

There were a couple of nice bursts down the western side from Filimoni Tagicakibau and then Horts and Sem had a go too.  But it took a burst from Rua through the middle after 34 minutes to put us in the lead.  Stretching the defence, the big fella probably could have made it on his own, but selflessly passed off to young loosie Sam Winsloe who was driven over for the try close to the posts.  Tin knocked over the extras and we hit the lead 13-12.  There were another couple of chances which good Woodlands defence closed out, but right on halftime a spilled ball by Woodies on halfway allowed the skipper to toe it through.  Afterwards he noted he was in two minds about kicking it again (it usually goes horribly wrong), but couldn’t get a favourable bounce so gave it a wee nudge, it sat up, and Towney ran the last 25m to score.

Tintin converted, and the boys had a 20-12 lead at the break.

After oranges, it was more of the same, but despite Tin and Sem looking dangerous inside, the Woodlands rush defence meant it was difficult to get the ball wide, and some poor play at the odd breakdown meant we weren’t recycling ball fast enough to make the charges we had at the end of the first half.  It still seemed we were in the driving seat, and then the 61st minute threw up a clanger when Woodlands scored in a scrappy dump over the line.  The conversion missed, and with just under 20 to go it was 20-17.

It’s fair to say at this point, tiredness left a few Blues lads missing in action, and Woodlands pressed home the advantage with a penalty 12 minutes from time to level the scores.  They declined another though, and in the end that may have been the difference as Tintin easily knocked over his third of the day to make it 23-20 with seven minutes left.  There were the usual heart-in-the-mouth moments towards the end, but the boys hung on to make it three from four and put us in clear second place in the Galbraith Shield competition.  Congrats to Horts and Elliott on their debuts, and to Jeremy Borland who played very well in his first start at tighthead.  This week Pirates OB…and it’s their 10-year anniversary so God only knows what they have planned…

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 23 (D Townson, S Winsloe tries; J Wilson 2 con, 3 pen) Woodlands 20. HT 20-12

PLAYER OF THE DAY POINTS:
Sam Winsloe 3,  Elliott Dixon 2, Seminar Manu 1

ROUND 1, GAME 3: PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 21, STAR 23; 1 APRIL, WAVERLEY PARK

Half an hour before the game I wasn’t sure if we would have a bench.  The roll call of injured and unavailable ran to James Wilson, Richard Kamaru, Sam Low, Kent Anderson, Sam Winsloe, and two who haven’t been available to play in Elliot Dixon and Glen Horton.

In the end it didn’t matter, as the Mighty Blue Machine almost pulled off an unbelievable win in the murk at Waverley Park.  It was an outstanding team performance that proved beyond doubt there is no I in team, but tons of ticker in Blues.

We rushed into the 6pm kickoff – more to come about that later on another site – having to call up Mikey Townson at the last minute to fill our bench which he did with aplomb for nearly 40 minutes.  Despite all the no-shows, the players we had gave their guts in a stunning effort against an almost full-strength Star team.

Star, naturally, roared into us in their usual fashion for the first 10 minutes before Barry “My Heart Is Still Blue” Tuilagi landed a soft penalty to put them ahead 3-0.  A few minutes later Nicky “Plod” Herbert just grazed the right hand upright with a monster attempt from 40m, and our boys started to get their tails up.

Plod nailed a 35m penalty a few minutes later to level the scores, and then the Tim Winsloe Show was unleashed.  Winsloe made a mockery of Star’s much-vaunted midfield, charging through repeatedly before being cut down by cover tackles from the Star loosies (take a bow, old man Tui).  Anyway, one of his charges led us into the Star 22, where outstanding young halfback Bryce Wise set up play for the forwards to drive Mike Wilkins to the line.  He was held up just short, but that led to another penalty where Plod knocked over another 3 to put us in the lead 6-3.

Barry levelled things up two minutes later, but by now the Blues forward dominance was starting to show through.  Eventually it paid off, with old man Wilkins getting shoved over the chalk for his much-desired try which Plod converted to make it 13-6.  He then took another crack at a penalty from 45m out, but missed, and we headed for oranges ahead 13-6.

An early soft try to Star’s halfback got them on level terms in the second half, and a Barry penalty eight minutes later put them back into the lead.  Blues was clearly the dominant side, but again our inability to regroup in broken play let us down as Star scored another relatively soft try with an hour gone. At 13-23 down, we began hammering away at their defence, and it paid off, with Sword going over for his second of the night five minutes later.  We couldn’t convert that, but we kept bashing away.

There was an outstanding opportunity with 12 minutes to go that just didn’t quite sit up for Plod and Geordie, but a Seminar Manu penalty with nine minutes left put us right back into it.  We had a few discipline lapses in the latter stages, but Star was definitely on the receiving end of some Blues anger.

We were unlucky not to finish the job, but I was a very proud manager of all the boys who stepped up.  Whilst Plod deserves much credit, Tim Winsloe played probably the best game I have seen him trot out in Blues colours, and Seminar showed the enormous (and I mean enormous) influence he can bring to a rugby game.  As for the forwards, you can all give yourselves a big hand, especially the Townson boys – Michael, Daniel and Shannon.  Fai Mika – we’ll miss you big fella.  Good luck for the future and fa’a Samoa for that World Cup.

Easter done and dusted, and I’m disappointed, but not upset.  Good result.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 21 (M Wilkins 2 tries; N Herbert 1 con, 2 pen; S Manu 1 pen) Star 23.

PLAYER OF THE DAY POINTS: Nicky Herbert 3, Seminar Manu 2, Mike Wilkins 1

ROUND ONE , GAME 2: BLUES 23 V MARIST 17 , 27 MAR, BLUES INTERNATIONAL STADIUM

I have always hated playing Marist in the first round.  It’s not just the childish abuse from the sideline, not to mention the window licker today on the cowbell, and those booing Rua during shots at goal, but the fact we never seem to get past them on a nice day in round one.

Having said that, finally the Papists have realised that having coaches who actually respect players might help them build a premier team.  Troy Mananena and Jamie  (Blues Protege) MacKenzie have got a bunch of decent young blokes.

They retain the proper rugby filth though, with Bird doing his best with elbows and knees, but now they have a team ethos, not that unnatural Marist self-appreciation we have all come to hate.

Anyway, the game kicked off in pearler weather at Blues International Stadium, and after seven minutes Richard Kamaru (who couldn’t kick the skin off a rice pudding prior to the game) nutted a valuable penalty to put us 3-0 ahead.

The game was a bit of end-to-end (more 22 to 22) combat before Marist sneaked a try after 12 minutes to take the lead 5-3.  A minor crisis, followed by a Catholic miracle, ensued after 22 minutes when halfback Bryce Wise unintentionally seriously shagged Jabba’s ankle to send him off and bring Jeremy “Son Of, Grandson Of” Borland on at prop.  Big Jezza had already played at least 50 minutes for the Bs in their 27-10 win over Woodlands.

More about him soon.

Our attacking opti0ns were being picked off by Marist as we got close to their line on a couple of occasions.  Eventually Daniel Townson said “fuck this” (in his head, of course) and went by himself to score in the north-eastern corner after 32 minutes to make it 8-5.

Just three minutes later Bryce “I Have To Let Muir Know It’s Not That Easy” Wise scampered (yes, scampered) 40 metres to set up a ruck on the north-western side from which the ball went to the north-eastern side for Towner to score his second in exactly the same place, if in somewhat easier fashion.  We took it to halftime at 13-5, feeling pretty confident, if somewhat in need of settling down and playing with structure.

After halftime, Blues dominated for most of the first quarter, but only had a Kamaru penalty from 40m to show for it.  It took the injection of the Black Pearl, Phil Smith, to spark the game-winning try.  Blues broke away through the forwards, and set up camp in Marist’s 22.  From there, the ball was flicked up to Filimoni Tagicakibau who burst a tackle to stroll through under the posts untouched.  Rua converted, and we were up 23-5.

Then Marist scored a couple of make it exciting – congrats to birthday boy Iona Sipa for getting one under the horns – but we ran out the winners in the end.  2 from 2 for the first time since 2003.  And we all know what happened then.  Good work fellas.

PRESTON RUSSELL LAW BLUES 23 (D Townson 2, F Tagicakibau tries; R Kamaru 1 con, 2 pen) Marist 17.

PLAYER OF THE DAY POINTS:
Sam Low 3, Seminar Manu 2, Bryce Wise 1

ROUND 1: 20 MAR – BLUES 18 (James Wilson 6 pen), MIDLANDS 13

Blues International Stadium hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Cunny since he departed the blue and black.  Last year Excelsior got a hurry up, and in 2010 the Mighty Blue Machine reversed last year’s opening round loss to Midlands with a hard-fought 18-13 win.

What started out as not a bad day for footy got worse as it pissed down from kick off to full time, when the rain stopped and the clouds parted.  This was somewhat of a worry, given Midlands’ love for grinding it out up front.  Luckily our forwards were in the same frame of mind, and with Daniel Roberts and man-of-the-match Kent Anderson doing the business up front, the forward exchanges became an arm-wrestle (OK, enough cliches).

Unfortunately it was so wet that the pages of my notebook are stuck together, so I can’t give you a run of play, but essentially what happened was this.  Both sides tried to run the ball and did well in the rough as guts conditions.  New boy Nicky Herbert was in brilliant touch in the first half on the wing, and was unlucky not to break the last tackle on at least two occasions.  Both kickers traded penalties before Mark Wells scored what appeared to be a dubious try against the run of play (he got knocked out in the process, so we couldn’t ask him whether he did or not, but Towner is sure he knocked the ball clear).

Blues kept plugging away, but whenever we got in the red zone, a mistake or good defence from Midlands would turn the ball over and send us 50m down the other end.

Our lineout was particularly effective, taking some Midlands throws, and our backs, especially Tintin and newbie Seminar Manu looked sharp in close.  Midlands scored another try, while we missed a couple of opportunities, but it was James’ kicking that got us over the line in the end.  We did appear to be one pre-season match short of having all our combinations working, and the absence of Elliot Dixon, Fai Mika and Glen Horton did rob us of extra firepower that might have come in handy.

Nevertheless, the boys who did take the paddock did an outstanding job to get the win in the end.  Now it’s Marist at Blues this Saturday.   Promise I’ll get a waterproof notebook this week.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS:

Kent Anderson 3, James Wilson 2, Richard Kamaru 1.