Two Masterton Marist players were in the Marist southern regional under-13 rugby side which defeated their northern counterparts 36-31 in Auckland last Saturday.
Blindside flanker Justin Strang and halfback Curtis Krivan-Mutu, who have both represented Wairarapa-Bush at age group level, were part of a side which trailed 19-17 at halftime but finished strongly to grab the spoils.
The result was a major reversal from last year's encounter when the northern team won 75-5.
That match was the curtain-raiser to the New Zealand Marist XV versus national Heartland XV and two Wairarapa-Bush players were involved there as well. Flanker James Goodger was a standout performer for Marist while wing Nathan Hunt had a sound game for the Heartland team.
Heartland won 17-10 after Marist led 7-5 at halftime.
