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Southland celebrate a try - Source: Photosport -
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Southland opened the second half floodgates to overwhelm Tasman
41-0 in their Air NZ Cup rugby match in Invercargill on
Saturday.
Ahead just 7-0 at halftime, Southland ran in six second half tries
to pick up the bonus-point win and climb up the points table into a
secure top four position.
Going into Saturday's game, the two teams were equal on points with
Tasman's better points differential putting them in fourth
place.
And with wins over Northland and Auckland in their last two games,
Tasman had built some momentum.
However, it was Southland - coming off losses in recent weeks to
Auckland and Wellington - who dominated possession and territory,
if not the scoreboard, in the first half.
It took nearly 20 minutes for the southerners to get points on the
board, despite their increasing control at the breakdown as they
committed players in numbers and steadily ground Tasman down.
All Blacks halfback Jimmy Cowan, who looked sharp with the ball in
hand and displayed an astute kicking game as well, finally broke
through Tasman's well-organised defence after captain Jamie
Mackintosh's initial assault on the line was repulsed.
Robbie Robinson converted, but Southland couldn't add to the score
before the halftime whistle.
It was a different story in the second half, as Southland showed
their intentions within the first two minutes with fullback Glen
Horton crossing for the first of his three tries.
The second followed soon after, as the Southland backline started
to run riot, given the perfect platform to perform on thanks to a
sterling effort from their relentless forwards.
Second five-eighth Jason Kawau and loose forward John Hardie added
to the score in quick succession before Horton brought up his
hat-trick with just over 10 minutes to go.
Fittingly, the last try of the match went to hard-working hooker
Jason Rutledge, who burrowed over in the corner in the last minute
of play.
