Rugby: Southland tackle their way to 18-9 win

John Hardie of Southland is tackled by George Naoupu of Hawkes Bay during the Air New Zealand Cup match between Southland and Hawke's Bay. Photo / Getty Images

Determined defence enabled Southland to grind out a hard fought Air NZ Cup rugby win over Hawke's Bay tonight.

Southland prevailed 18-9 in the fourth round contest in Invercargill after a rugged, 80-minute arm wrestle.

The home side hit the front for the first time in the 46th minute via a try to hooker David Hall when they took a tap penalty inside the Hawke's Bay 22.

They then had to withstand intense pressure as Hawke's Bay asked serious questions of their resolve.

Hawke's Bay threw everything they had at Southland in the middle stages of the second half but the home team soaked it all up and defended their line with grim determination.

They were camped deep inside Southland territory for five minutes but were repeatedly held up near the line as the hosts tackled themselves to a stand still.

Having defending their tenuous 12-9 advantage, Southland were given some breathing space when one of their few second-half forays into the opposition half rewarded them with a penalty to young fullback Robbie Robinson.

Hawke's Bay refused to go away and continued to dominate possession and field position, but they simply could not find a way through Southland's blanket defence.

Robinson had the last say 4min from fulltime when he belted over a 50m penalty to finally defuse the threat.

Hawke's Bay marginally had the better of a scrappy first half, changing ends 9-5 ahead thanks to first five-eighth Mathew Berquist.

The first five-eighth made his mark early, snapping over a wide angled dropped goal in just the fifth minute when he found his options limited.

Two further penalties followed from his boot while both teams struggled to maintain possession for any period of time.

The Hawke's Bay forwards shaded their opposites at the breakdown but it was at the set piece that the northerners conceded the only try of the first spell.

A solid Southland shunt to a Hawke's Bay feed 5m out from the line seriously disrupted the visitors' ball and the scraps were picked up by Southland lock Josh Bekhuis, who flung himself over the line from close range.

The match may have lacked the quality of earlier Cup games this season but the intensity of both sides helped make up for this deficiency.

- NZPA