25-05-2025
Cosie Cup with Old Boys
Pirates Old Boys won the Cosie Cup, the memorial trophy in the name of Paul Cosgrove, when they beat Woodlands 31-12 in the Southland premier club rugby competition on Saturday.
Cosie had a special association with both the POB and Woodlands clubs before he died four years ago from cancer.
POB and Woodlands are the leading teams in the competition with four rounds remaining in the round-robin.
POB led 14-0 at halftime after tries to No8 Hayden Hegarty from close to the line, and lock Craig Smith from a textbook lineout drive.
Woodlands scored their first try with 25 minutes remaining in the game, but POB took back control through another lineout drive with Dusty Coveney emerging from the pack to score.
Midfielder Napo Seru brushed off a couple of would-be defenders to score the fifth try for POB.
Woodlands scored a try near fulltime.
Marist beat the Eastern Northern Barbarians 23-19 at Miller St in Invercargill.
The Barbarians outscored Marist three tries to two but Scott Eade's goal kicking proved to be the difference for Marist.
Marist coach Derek Manson was proud to see how well his team fronted up after a challenging couple of weeks.
"We had plenty to play for, everybody put in a hell of a shift," Manson said.
"It was a good showing from the Barbarians as well, they were as motivated as we were."
Marist got off to the best possible start when flanker Jackson Bevin scored from a lineout.
Barbarian hooker Liam Ferguson scored two tries to give the visitors a 12-10 lead at halftime.
Marist first five Eade steered the team around and Curtis Tarrant did the right thing at the right time from fullback, including a game saving tackle when the Babaas were threatening to score at the end.
The Marist props Liam McIntosh and Joe Turaganivalu scrummed well and the lineout operated at its usual high standard.
Midfielder Mike Moodie was man of the match, while flanker Jackson Bevan and hooker James Moodie had their usual high work rate.
Left wing Keanu Kahukura played his 150th game for Marist, while James Moodie was celebrating his 50th.
Riley Hika and Hunter Burgess received their club blazers on Saturday night after playing 30 games.
Star earned a 38-19 win over Blues on club day at Balmoral Dr.
Star led 31-0 at halftime.
By John Langford
