by Paul Cook –

Having gone down 59-12 to an impressive Northern Suburbs in round one, West Harbour were understandably keen to get off on the right note in front of their own supporters a week later. But a side that is in the early stages of rebuilding, with a host of changes in both the coaching and playing groups, was up against a well-drilled Southern Districts outfit that arrived off the back of an opening day victory over last year’s Minor Premiers, Manly.

And it was the visitors who struck first, two early penalties paving the way for an all-out assault on the home side’s line and prop Matt Gibbon was driven over with far too much ease. Matt Teki added the extras and momentum stayed with the Rebels as they carried on where they had left off the previous week against the Marlins, with strong carries, rapid clean-outs and greater aggression at the breakdown the order of the day.

A high shot on 13 minutes – the second of two in what was an ill-disciplined opening quarter from the Pirates – earned a penalty, which was unsurprisingly kicked to touch. Souths’ maul unified impressively again, only to collapse virtually on the line, but some quick thinking and speedy service from scrumhalf Waldo Wessels sent it wide, where a lovely tap back from Mitch Walton put Denny Godinet over for a second.

Souths continued to target the set-piece, particularly the scrum where they had curried the early favour of referee Charles Hartson, and they had the Pirates on skates just after the end of the first quarter before falling just shy of the chalk once more. However, the alert Wessels span it back infield for Godinet to jink his way over for his second and Souths’ third, despite the offside attentions of Wests’ flyhalf Tayler Adams, who was subsequently shown yellow.

Things got even worse for Wests when Souths countered off turnover ball from a lineout a couple of minutes later, Luke Smart breaking the line, Sean Doyle away down the flank in support and the ex-Brumby’s last pass put the predatory Teki away for the bonus point with just under an hour of the contest still to play.

The home side tried to forge some rare pressure inside Souths’ 22 but too often they used one-out runners or didn’t throw enough bodies in to secure the clean out and the Rebels defence were turning ball over at will. And when they coughed up possession, they were ripe for the picking on the counter attack, a raking wide pass freeing Walton for a run on the half hour, and the flyhalf used the decoy line of Smart in support to keep the cover defence guessing before gassing it to the corner in style, Teki’s third conversion taking his side out to a damaging 31-0 lead.

With the visitors rolling along at a point a minute, the Pirates needed something, and fast, and they finally got on the board five minutes before the break. A couple of big don’t argues from no.8 Tala Moli got them on the front foot, and only the second penalty Souths had conceded to that point gave their opponents the chance to test out their own driving maul, scrumhalf Wayne Ngaluafe pouncing from in close after his pack had rumbled to within a couple of metres.

Tyler Adams returned from purgatory to add the extras but you got the feeling the home side needed another before half-time if they were to convince anyone – maybe even themselves – that they could still pull off the great escape. But the score merely provoked the visitors into an immediate response, the operose Doyle the next to profit off turnover ball when a pop pass from Wessels put him through a static line to run home try no.6, West Harbour’s afternoon unravelling before them with a 38-7 half-time deficit.

Agonisingly for those hoping for a second half miracle, it only took Souths two minutes after the restart to find the line again, Marcus Carbone and Matt Gibbon softening up the Pirates line before Wessels dummied and palmed off another soft tackle to go over. Cue a heated Wests inquest under one set of the tallest rugby posts in the Southern Hemisphere.

But Souths proved that they could be guilty of switching off themselves a couple of minutes later, a simple lineout play putting David Minute through a gap, and the former leauguie with thighs like baobab trunks was always going to take some stopping from there. 45-14.

Wests got a further leg-up when Souths skipper Carbone had a rare brain snap and challenged a black jersey in the air, receiving 10 minutes to ponder his actions from the naughty chair as a result. Sensing an unlikely route back into the contest, the hosts pinned the Rebels inside their own 22, trying to forge a path for their powerful ball runners to create some havoc. And they looked to have struck again when they worked an overlap for Bradford Kapa to cross the chalk, only for a terrific ball-and-all tackle from Walton to hold him up.

The Pirates desperately needed to score again with their opponents a man down but after Kapa’s missed opportunity, they struggled to elicit another clear-cut chance, the Rebels defence standing up in the absence of their skipper. And having been drawn into a bit of a loose contest for the period without Carbone, the Rebels went back to basics upon his return and it soon paid dividends, the trusty lineout drive putting hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa over to rack up the second half century Wests have conceded in their opening two games.

A quick tap and dart from Tayler Adams caught Souths’ defence napping with just over 10 to go, but despite the flyhalf converting his own good work, it was very much a case of too little, too late for Wests. Their task wasn’t helped by a yellow card for Kapa as they tried to thwart another Souths surge under their own sticks, and when the final whistle shrilled a few minutes later, it was something of a merciful release.

While Souths look to be coping rather well with the loss of Messrs Holloway, Asquith, Volavola and Gibbon, the same cannot be said of a West Harbour side shorn of the departed Kelly Meafua, Cohen Masson and Joel Brooks.

It’s still early days for this group and they will improve over time. They have to.

Southern Districts 52 (Denny Godinet 2, Matt Gibbon, Matt Teki, Mitch Walton, Sean Doyle, Waldo Wessels, Brandon Paenga-Amosa tries; Matt Teki 6 cons) defeated West Harbour 21 (Wayne Ngaluafe, David Minute, Tayler Adams tries; Tayler Adams 3 cons) HT 7-38