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Otago center Josh Ioane will be in no rush to return to Invercargill any time soon.
Because his bug-ridden performance played a big part in Southland’s remarkable 32-15 upset on Friday night, their first home win against their neighbors in a decade.
The All Black from a test missed four shots on target, including a keeper who would have tied the game at 18-18 after 62 minutes, and threw a costly interception pass.
Southland winger Matt James picked up his sloppy pass and returned it 52 yards to score, a play that gave the Stags momentum shortly after the halftime break.
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Ray Nu’u of Southland on the charge against Otago at Invercargill on Friday night.
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They never looked back after Scott Eade put them ahead after 51 minutes, ensuring that Otago failed to wrap up the championship top seed with one round to play.
Southland captain Tony Lamborn led the Stags with a monstrous performance, scoring a try in the 5th minute via a lineout, before receiving a series of defensive penalties when Otago threw it all at them in the second half.
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Southland’s Isaac Te Tamaki collides with Otago on Friday night.
The Stags’ 81st victory in 245 attempts in the rivalry also keeps their playoff hopes alive, though it looks like they won’t beat this win this season.
They had scored just 10 attempts in their previous eight games, by far the fewest in the competition, but they rocked Otago with four for a bonus point.
Wing Tevita Latu’s goal in the 66th minute put them up 25-15 before replacement Talemaitoga Tuapati froze the match with three minutes to go.
Otago should have had a healthier lead than the 15-10 they had in the split, only Ioane had a bad case of yips.
The Highlanders playmaker was hitting it all in the first 20 minutes, missing three shots on goal, including a penalty attempt that barely left the deck.
Joe Allison / Getty Images
Otago wing Freedom Vahaakolo imagined breaking out against Southland on Friday night.
Captain Michael Collins eventually gave up on asking him to line up the sticks, instead of pushing him back to find the bunt and set up a possible starting line.
But Ioane couldn’t even handle that, and threw his kick into in-goal. He could only offer a sheepish smile when the vocal crowd from Southland got stuck on him.
Otago was lucky. Southland center Eade made a couple of terrible mistakes in the closing minutes of the first half.
Because shortly after Eade kicked the hosts to a 10-8 lead, he dropped the ball twice in his in-goal to give Otago 5-meter scrums.
The visitors bombarded two attempts through poor passes, before Sio Tomkinson, who was playing his 50th game for the Blues and Golds, crashed three minutes after the half-time horn sounded.
It seemed too easy, unlike wing Freedom Vahaakolo’s goal in the 16th minute, when he flayed Eade and caused three other Southland defenders to miss their way down the line.
Otago will have a lot to ponder on their overnight bus ride back to Dunedin, including the fact that Hawke’s Bay could surpass them at the top of the championship Sunday afternoon.
Southland 32 (Tony Lamborn, Matt James, Tevita Lat, Talemaitoga Tuapati tries; Scott Eade with, 2 pen, Greg Dyer 2 with) Otago 15 (Freedom Vahaakolo, Sio Tomkinson tries; Josh Ioane pen, with). HT: 10-15
MVP Points: Tony Lamborn 3, Matt James 2, Greg Pleasants-Tate 1
