On a day for muddy rugby, play was always going to stagnate from set-piece to set-piece, so whichever team could make the most traction in the 30-40 seconds of action in between would carry the day.
Marist were also still missing towering lock Brad O’Leary and last season’s breakout first five-eighths Rangi Kui, who will return home during the week after completing their club duties in Ireland.
Jack O’Leary slotted into first five and landed two kicks from his four attempts, but again it was Clare who was clutch, slotting five from six attempts - including two late penalties in the wet - to deny Marist even a bonus point for a hard day’s toil.
In both the scrums and carries, Border got good service out of their props Ranato Tikoisolomone and Hamish Mellow, as well as lock Ngapuke Patea until a collarbone injury saw the latter depart after halftime.
Try-scorer Josefa Namosimalua impressed at No 8, where Border will need him to fill the boots of the departed Semi Vodosese, who has left for Hawke’s Bay, and the injured Bryn Hudson.
For Marist, try-scoring skipper Brad Graham and representative flanker Samu Kubunavanua were strong, the latter on debut for his new club and trying to get across to unsettle Horrocks and the playmakers after the visitors’ dominant scrum wins.
Halfback Winslin Klassen, who started ahead of the established Rory Gudsell, looks like he could have some spark about him, while reserve forward Illi Davatu got into his work when he came on.
New Border coach Todd Cowan knows the days of beating Marist by 40 points or more have ended.
“Definitely tricky conditions, I think the footy today was bad weather stuff like that, so a couple of times there just the bounce of the ball went either way,” Cowan said after the game.
“So we were lucky to come away with the win today, Marist played bloody well. They’re a very strong side that are going to test some other teams this season.
“They’ll definitely be there or thereabouts towards the tail end of the season, so we’re happy to take our win today against these boys on their home paddock.
“There’s plenty of work-ons for us as well, I won’t be short of anything to look to do at training this week.”
The stop-start nature of the contest did play into Border’s hands as they showed more composure in the moments when the ball was in play.
“In these conditions you’re going to get a lot more drop ball so there’s going to be a lot more onus on your set-piece,” Cowan said.
“We’ve got work to do in these next couple of weeks, so start building.”
Marist coach Travers Hopkins knew they are starting to gain traction on the three-time champions but the little moments were now making a big difference.
“Days gone by, we were always competitive for 40 minutes, and then come that second half it would just blow out.
“There’s a bit of resolve there now, they’ve got some old heads that show a bit of calmness and a bit of experience.
“But it wasn’t enough today, we didn’t help ourselves at all. When you’ve got someone like Chock [Clare] who can kick them from anywhere - our discipline was terrible, and the kicks we gave him weren’t even hard ones, they were on a plate.
“They just plugged those corners and, credit to them, that’s what we wanted to do.
“Those guys have probably played more Premier rugby than our guys have had cooked dinners - they knew what to do.”
The team had certainly missed Watson come scrum time.
“Credit to Kayden [Shedlock] and Marius [Joseph] that went into that front row, they did their best, but really looking forward to getting him back and shoring that up because that was just easy money for [Border] today.
“We also saw a lot of good things we’ve got a lot of new combinations.
“The defence was good, but we’ve just to learn to close these games out, especially now we’re in the fight.”
Waverley Harvesting Border 24 (J Namosimalua, T Albert tries; C Clare 4 pen, con) bt Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist 15 (B Graham, J Bogileka tries; J O’Leary pen, con). HT: 10-10.
