Winners feast on opponents' spills in third division

All four winners in the second round of the national third division rugby championship took full advantage of the opponents' errors yesterday.

West Coast led after 30 minutes but dropped the ball twice which resulted in two converted tries for Wanganui, who went on to win 39-29.

Wairarapa-Bush scored four tries in their 28-15 win, each time when Poverty Bay spilled the ball on defence.

Winger Isaac Russell dotted down a crucial try for South Canterbury's 33-27 win over King Country in Te Kuiti and Buller upset Horowhenua-Kapiti at Westport 31-19, scoring two of their three tries directly from Horowhenua's errors.

South Canterbury have been gradually reaping the benefits of a stronger club competition with North Otago and it showed at Te Kuiti yesterday.

They made the most of their opportunities to score four tries and gain maximum points to lead the competition with 10 points.

Wanganui are second with nine and Wairarapa-Bush third with seven followed by Buller and West Coast on six each.

King Country picked up a bonus point as well through a last-minute penalty goal which gave them a finish within seven points.

The home side started strongly, scoring a try in the third minute though second five-eighth Merv Kiel. First five-eighth Michael Blank kicked the conversion and a penalty to put them ahead 10-3 after 13 minutes.

South Canterbury first five-eighth Richard Preston, who had kicked a penalty goal, added a drop goal.

South Canterbury overtook the lead in the 21st minute when lock David Phiskie was driven over the line for a converted try.

Costly mistakes from King Country saw Russell slip away for a 32nd minute try.

King Country replied almost immediately from the kick-off when fullback Kevin Weinberg scored and Blank added the conversion to narrow the margin to 21-17 before halftime.

South Canterbury started the second half strongly, scoring tries through No 8 Hamish Drennan and half Brett Williamson, to seal the victory.

King Country fought back with a cheeky try from halfback Ben Needham and Black converted to make it 33-24.

The home team attacked the line in the final five minutes and were rewarded with a penalty in front of the posts for Blank to snatch a bonus point for his team.

Wanganui and West Coast entertained but left the Greymouth crowd dissatisfied when the home team dropped the ball twice at the wrong end of the field in the closing 10 minutes of the first half.

Wanganui punished those errors by turning them into two converted tries to lead 29-10.

Wanganui went further ahead after the break and threatened to cut loose.

But West Coast finished the stronger to score three second-half tries to secure a bonus point for scoring four tries.

Loose forwards JJ Walker and Scott Donald and lock Tomasi Kedrabuka were commanding figures in the Wanganui pack, while their front row of Blair Ross, Peter Mamea and Anton Edwards caused West Coast a lot of trouble in the scrums.

Wairarapa-Bush scored four tries in victory, and all came after Poverty Bay dropped the ball in defensive situations.

Turning over possession was costly for Poverty Bay, as apart from the tries that Wairarapa-Bush scored, Poverty Bay could have scored a few had they held on to the ball close to the line.

No 8 Daryl Fale, lock Tyrone McTavish and prop Brendan Walker were top performers for the home side.

The key to Buller's success was their strong midfield of Eroni Uluiburotu and Palepoi Nonu, who frequently had the Horowhenua-Kapiti defence at full stretch as they took the ball through the middle.

Horowhenua-Kapiti did not help their cause by hanging off too many tackles and their choice of options in the backs was poor throughout.

Two of Buller's three tries came directly from mistakes by Horowhenua-Kapiti deep in their own territory.

Blair Cotching, Nonu and Aisake Tarogi scored for the home side.

- NZPA