Rugby: Southland's vintage year ends

Robbie Robinson of Southland is tackled by Apoua Stewart of Wellington. Photo / Getty Images

Air NZ Cup
Wellington 34
Southland 21

There's been something old-fashioned, gutsy and even heroic about Southland in this year's Air New Zealand Cup - and it was possible to admire them further even in defeat last night.

They have an air of yesteryear about them with their big tight five, the structured way they play and their hard-bitten defence.

They are direct, they have a backline which plays with depth - none of that flat backline nonsense in Invercargill, thanks very much - and they even celebrated their Ranfurly Shield victory over Canterbury with some good, old-fashioned drinking.

And that in a day when the modern professional rugby player almost has to flagellate himself with barbed wire and a stingray's tail if he admits to taking a drink.

This was supposed to be their Waterloo; their season complete and their mental state a bit wobbly after that inspirational, low-scoring (see, the old-fashioned bits keep appearing) Shield win.

Wellington - pacy, fluid and creative - would be too much for them and would meet Canterbury in the final.

So it proved. Wellington ground them down with their superior scrum, perhaps a greater hunger to get to the final and finally got their free-scoring mojo working at the end to run away with it.

It looked bad for the southerners when Wellington put on 16 points in as many minutes before halftime. David Smith scored a try and the relentless goalkicking of Piri Weepu pulled Wellington up from 7-3 down to a 19-7 lead at the break.

But it was Southland who scored the flashy try of the first half. It came in an old-fashioned way, too - with flanker Tim Boys grubbing the ball up from the bottom of a ruck in a defensive turnover.

First five-eighth Robbie Robinson chipped high - probably too high - and Wellington should have dealt with it. They didn't, the ball was slapped around, winger Matt Saunders made a dab and passed to a charging Scott Cowan.

An interesting newcomer, Jimmy's little brother. He's not half-bad with the basic halfback stuff and he has something Jimmy doesn't - real pace.

He blazed down the middle of the field and, had he passed left, Southland would have scored there and then with three men unmarked and the line open.

He went right, the chance seemed lost - but Southland kept plugging away and when flanker John Hardie popped up round a ruck on the Wellington line, the defence went for him and left a gap for a thundering run from hooker Jason Rutledge.

But there were danger signals appearing, with Wellington's scrum working so well that Southland props Jamie Mackintosh and Chris King found themselves often heading back towards Invercargill at a rate of knots.

Flanker Victor Vito was starting to run with all his abundant pace and energy and you feared for a Southland defence which did not look like the impenetrable concrete wall of last week.

They were forced into a scrum, Wellington shunted them backwards at speed and halfback Alby Mathewson combined with Smith to put the winger over.

That period before halftime should have been the decisive phase of the match. But Southland put the ticker in sticker and they were back in the game when Cowan poached Wellington ruck ball, sprinted clear over 50m - leaving Weepu in his wake - and not even a despairing tackle from winger Hosea Gear could stop him scoring.

Then the move of the match. Wellington attacked from broken play with second-five Shaun Treeby prominent.

What followed was anything but old-fashioned; more a celebration of modern rugby at its best.

Southland burgled the ball at the breakdown through Rutledge and the turnover gave them space, even though they were on their own line.

Treeby's opposite Jason Kawau burst through, galloped 50-60m and his pass to the supporting Kendrick Lynn saw the centre go over by the posts in an exhilarating 85m move.

Now down 21-19, Wellington got ahead again by doing the basics well and asking Weepu to knock over the penalties.

He did, Southland were beginning to tire, and Gear punched through. Replacement hooker Dane Coles scuttled along the sideline, inter-passing with fellow replacement Mark Reddish, and the hooker Sean Fitzpatrick labelled last year as a highly promising talent had the try.

And that was that. Southland tried to bridge the six-point gap, turned it over, Treeby and Vito cut large holes in the defence and Coles loomed up - looking awfully like Fitzpatrick, really - for his second try in three minutes.

Game over. But Southland will still remember 2009 as a good 'un.

Wellington 34 (D. Smith, D. Coles 2 tries; P. Weepu 2 cons, 5 pens), Southland 21 (J. Rutledge, S. Cowan, K. Lynn tries, R. Robinson 3 cons). Halftime: 19-7.