The Dunedin Rugby Football Club (Inc)

On Sunday 25 September 2011 the Dunedin club swept all
before it when it won the Rural Rugby 7s tournament held in Middlemarch. This
tournament also doubled as trials for the 2012 Otago 7s team.

Playing in cool conditions with occasional snow showers
sweeping across the field, the Dunedin team beat Alhambra (27-10), Maniototo
(53-0) and Green Island (43-17) to comfortably qualify for the semi-finals.

The semi-final against a Strath Taieri invitation team say
Dunedin pile on the pressure and go to the break with 3 tries (Liam Edwards (2)
and Brad Weber) under their belt. A further two tries in the second half to
Ashton Tuck and Anthony Diack along with 4 Edwards conversions throughout the
match saw the team into the final with a comprehensive 33-0 victory.

The final was against University. Early tries to Ashton
Tuck, Liam Edwards, Brad Weber and Mark Atkins together with 4 conversions saw
Dunedin out to a 26-0 lead and looking odds-on to take out the title, however
University struck back before the half time hooter with two converted tries and
the lead was trimmed to 26-14. A try to Mark Atkins from the second half
kick-off saw the lead extended to 31-14 and again looking comfortable but
University dug deep and scored two more converted tries against a tiring
Dunedin defence to make it 31-28 with a couple of minutes to play. The victory
was finally sealed with an 80m individual effort from Liam Edwards who outpaced
the entire University team to make the final score 36-28.

Team members:

Gareth Evans, Brad Weber, Mitch Zandstra, Mark Atkins, Hugh
Blake, Anthony Diack, Zac Kelly, Ashton Tuck, Ben West, Jaron Drozdak, Tumua
Ioane and Liam Edwards.

 At the end of the tournament the following were named in the
Otago 7s training squad

Gareth Evans, Brad Weber, Tumua Ioane, Liam
Edwards, Mark Atkins, Hugh Blake and Ashton Tuck

Liam Edwards had the chance to get Dunedin a bonus point but he missed his long-range penalty goal in the final minute and Taieri won 32-24 at Kettle Park. Edwards kicked five penalty goals and scored 14 of Dunedin’s points. But he will be reminded of that final missed chance to take Dunedin into the semifinals.

Dunedin had the better of the first half and Edwards added the extra points to give it a 16-5 lead at the break.

Dunedin flanker Hugh Blake was the best forward in the first half and he continued dominate the breakdown in the second spell. He was backed by lock Mark Grieve-Dunn and prop Will Henry.

But Dunedin’s backs let it down with a lot of fumbles and missed tackles. Dunedin missed 35 tackles in the second spell.

The Taieri pack matched Dunedin in the second spell with No 8 Charlie O’Connell having a bullocking game and lock Steve Green doing his bit. The Taieri backline ran strongly and caused problems for the Dunedin defence.

Key players in the backline were first five-eighth Ben Nowell and the midfield of Shannon Young and Kieran Moffat. Moffat scored two tries and set up two others in the second spell. Moffat made ground as he cut through what was virtually a non-existent defence.

- Taieri 32 (Kieran Moffat 2, Shannon Young, Ben Nowell, Charlie O’Connell tries; Kurt Schrader con, pen, Nowell con), Dunedin 24 (Louis Tili, Mark Grieve-Dunn tries; Liam Edwards con, 4 pen). Halftime: Dunedin 16-5. Referee: Jeff Grubb.

Pirates retained the Larry Salmon Memorial Trophy at Kettle Park.

Pirates led 18-0 with the wind at its back in the first spell and added 22 points when playing into the wind in the second spell. The Pirates pack dominated second-phase ball and gained 28 turnovers at the breakdown.

Pirates had a strong scrum and the front row of Daniel Johnson, Jake Maiono and Craig Miller dominated their opponents. Warren Kearney and Brad Ross were strong in the lineout and the loose trio of Solomon T-Pole, Shaun McCarroll and Josh Clark were dominant.

The best Pirates back was second five-eighth Opini To’Omalatai. The lack of tackling by Dunedin was epitomised by the try scored by prop Craig Miller in the final minute, when he broke through four tackles.

Pirates 40 (Hemi Davis, Isaac Beach, Solomon T-Pole, Warren Kearney, Craig Miller, Daniel Johnson, Paul Miller tries; Davis con, Andrew Bremner pen), Dunedin 11 (Sione Pulu try; Liam Edwards 2 pen). Halftime: 18-0. Referee: Todd Pullar.

Brad Weber has bolted home to Hawkes Bay but says he hopes to play for Otago in the near future.

The rising halfback had only just returned to Dunedin from New Zealand Under-20 duty at the world junior championships this week when he was whistled into the Magpies squad for the ITM Cup.

Brad (20), who has been studying health sciences at the University of Otago and playing for the Dunedin club, has been on a minor Hawkes Bay contract for two years.

He was half-hoping a loan deal could be arranged to keep him in the Otago system this year.

But the opportunity to play top provincial rugby sooner with his home province has emerged and is too good to turn down.

“Hawkes Bay has upgraded my contract to NPC status,” Weber told the Otago Daily Times.

“That’s quite exciting. I guess I feel on a bit of a roll with rugby and I just want to take the opportunity.

“I’d certainly like to come back. But whether Otago want me  back or not is another story.”

Weber signed his first contract with Hawkes Bay when he was playing First XV rugby at Napier Boys’ High School.

“That contract gave me the financial support to come down here, which is where I wanted to study,” he said.

“Looking back, I wish I didn’t sign that contract. I’d rather have come to Otago and tried to get a contract here.

“But in saying that, I didn’t really expect my rugby to accelerate that quickly.”

Weber’s studies have understandably taken a back seat. He missed his mid-year exams while in Italy with the New Zealand Under-20 team, and he is not sure when he will get back in the lecture theatre.

He started against Italy and Argentina at the world junior  tournament, and got the last 20 minutes of the final as New Zealand beat England 33-22.

“We were pretty confident but we knew teams would be after us.

“We couldn’t just turn up and win. We really had to work for it and I think we played really well.”

Liam Edwards was the inspiration for an enterprising Dunedin team that scored six tries and retained the Centennial Trophy against Alhambra-Union at Kettle Park.

Edwards, returning from a month break after injuring his shoulder, added spark to the Dunedin backline.

He scored two brilliant long-range tries and was dangerous when he entered the backline.

His best try came when he picked up loose ball on his own line, sprinted 60m, kicked over the defence, gathered the ball and scored the try. He added 16 points with his boot to score 26 points.

A feature of Dunedin’s play was the ability to break out from its own 22m. The side had the confidence to counter-attack  from turnover ball.

The other back to stand out was first five-eighth Louis Tili, who directed play efficiently.

The best forward was No 8 Gareth Evans with his skills at the breakdown and his strong tackling.

Hooker Finnbar Boyle was a tiger on the drive and prop Will Henry was skilled with the pick and go in his 100th game for the club.

- Dunedin 46 (Liam Edwards 2, Sione Pulu, Tumua Ioane, Daryl Caldwell, Richard Thompson tries; Edwards 5 con, 2 pen), Alhambra-Union 8 (Regan Turoa try; Peter Breen  pen). Halftime: 32-3. Referee: Ben O’Keefe.