Southland bore home after turgid display of rugby

Southland 19 Bay of Plenty 13

It must be a source of concern to the All Black selectors that they had to endure yet another game that made going to the dentist seem like fun.

Neither Southland nor Bay of Plenty are heavyweights in the NPC competition but neither are they such feckless bantam weights as they suggested last night.

After 40 minutes of turgid, quite excruciatingly dull football the Invercargill crowd were treated to one dropped goal, two penalties and one instantly forgettable try by Adrian Cashmore. Those gluttons for punishment who hung around for the next 40 minutes were sorry they did.

The slapstick was still heavy, the purpose of either team still limited. Southland produced five seconds of magic when Jimmy Cowan cross kicked into the arms of the flying wing Watisoni Lotawa to score the clinching try 10 minutes from time.

In addition to Lotawa's try, Bay of Plenty halfback Kevin Senio made a thrilling break at one stage, so did Southland first-five Richard Apanui and Wayne Ormond made a thumping tackle. There were 39-and-a-half awful minutes in between.

The great irony was that in a season of desperate attendances, almost 8000 pitched up at Rugby Stadium.

It will be a miracle if the Stags can persuade even half to return for their next home game and those searching for reasons why the NPC is declining in popularity shouldn't be thinking outside the square. It seems fairly obvious that a night in the pub, dinner with the wife or even extracting toenails with pliers stack up as better value for money.

What exactly the All Black selectors got out of it is hard to tell. They perhaps would have concluded that there really isn't much between Senio and Cowan. Senio snapped the ball around with his usual fizz and looked lively on his feet.

While Cowan, the Southland halfback who tootled off to Europe with the All Blacks last year, much to the chagrin of Justin Marshall, is at last looking a bit more the part.

With three halfbacks to be selected in this year's tour party, it seems a straight shoot-out between Cowan and Senio for the third berth, with Byron Kelleher and Piri Weepu assured of places.

Cowan's dropped goal was impressive, but it will have been his presence round the fringes that caught the eye.

The other Southlander on show was lock Hoani Macdonald whose athleticism and ball skills have resulted in his name being whispered as a potential bolter.

Ball in hand he looked the business last night and he also threw himself about to good effect at the lineout. Capable of playing at flanker, too, he might just be the rangy, tight/loose lineout forward All Black coach Steve Hansen is openly looking for.

Southland 19 (W. Lotawa try; R. Apanui 3 pens, con; J. Cowan DG)

Bay of Plenty 13 (A. Cashmore try, M. Delany con, 2 pens)

- HERALD ON SUNDAY