If a game of rugby could ever live up to the cliché ‘a game of two halves’, this was it.
QBE Harbour bounced back after a sluggish opening forty at Rugby Park, overturning a 12 point deficit to beat Southland 26-25 in Invercargill.
Hairs were being ripped out in Harbour’s coaching box early as Southland backs Junior Ngaluafe and Willis Halaholo cantered to the try line pushing Southland out to a 12-0 lead in as many minutes.
A moment of brilliance from Tevita Li put a brief end to the hosts’ dominance. Chris Vui took the early line-out throw, and Li made the most of some open pasture gliding through Southland’s defence to open Harbour’s account for the afternoon.
But the smiles on Harbour fans faces were short lived as Halaholo ran in for a second try moments before the break, with a bonus point win looking on the table for the home side.
“We got a real rev up at the break from Jacko at half-time, but we knew we had the wind in the second half and if we could just grind out the first forty and keep it really close we thought we could use it to our advantage,” said Harbour captain Bryn Hall.
And that they did. Some tactical kicking by Dan Halangahu and Matt McGahan gave Harbour some much needed territory, and Southland’s ill-discipline around the breakdown saw that turned into points. Halangahu kicking a penalty early in the second half to close the gap to 22-13.
Ten minutes later Harbour rumbled over for their second try. Some patient play through the forwards was rewarded out wide. A darting run off the ruck and a flick pass off-load from Bryn Hall saw Michael Little crash over. Halangahu’s conversion made it a two point ball game.
Three minutes later Ash Moeke extended Southland’s lead to 25-20, but you had a sense that Harbour weren’t done yet even with 20 minutes to go. Dan Halangahu responded with a penalty of his own, followed up by some relentless defence on Harbour’s try line.
The key moment came with two minutes to go. Nafi Tuitavake kicked a ball dead and gave Southland a scrum well inside Harbour’s half. Knowing the importance of the scrum Harbour produced a stunning push to see Southland go backwards and the referee award the penalty.
Halangahu kicked it into touch, where some patient build up saw Southland concede a penalty in the 81st minute. Halangahu calmly slotted the match winning kick, finishing up with 16 points on the day.
“We’re under the pump after our first two losses, we really had a hard week of training. This is just really rewarding for the coaching staff as well they’ve worked hard for the last six months before the campaign started so this is definitely one for them as well,” said Hall.
It’s just the confidence boost Harbour were searching for, with a Ranfurly Shield challenge waiting in Napier next week against Championship competition leaders Hawke’s Bay.
SOUTHLAND 25 (Junior Ngaluafe, Willis Halaholo 2 tries; Ash Moeke 2 pen, 2 con) QBE Harbour 26 (Tevita Li, Michael Little tries; Daniel Halangahu 4 pen, 2 con). HT 10-22.
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