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

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 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.

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.”

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.

It is now nine points ahead of fifth-placed Alhambra-Union and is not expected to be passed with only four rounds of the Gallaway Trophy competition left.

Dunedin’s next task is to close the seven-point gap to Taieri, to move into third spot and avoid playing Southern in the semifinal.

Dunedin played attacking rugby to score six tries when it beat University at Kettle Park.

A feature of the Dunedin style was for the loose forwards Hugh Blake and Mark Atkins to attack the breakdown and get turnover ball.

It was then moved wide, to speedsters Ashton Tuck and Sione Pulu, who had the gas to turn opportunities into points.

The best Dunedin try came midway through the second spell, when Atkins grabbed turnover ball on his own goal line and dashed upfield. Blake was in support to continue the movement and Atkins was the last to handle and score the try.

First five-eighth Louis Tili, the pivot, was always looking for attacking opportunities. He dashed down the short side shortly before the break and lock Richard Thompson was in support to score the try and Dunedin led 35-7.

Pulu scored his try after 25 minutes in the second spell and Dunedin led 42-7.

The last 15 minutes belonged to the students who scored two late tries. Their best players were veteran tighthead prop Chris Burke, flanker Jack Wolfreys and halfback Sam McLernon.

- Dunedin 47 (Ashton Tuck, Sione Pulu, Mark      Atkins 2, Hugh Blake, Richard Thompson tries; Louis Tili 4      con, 3 pen), University  19 (Anton Hones 2, Harry Pankhurst      tries; Stephen Fenemore 2 con). Halftime: 35-7. Referee: Liam      Scanlon.

He made ground with the pick and go, was skilled at the clean out and gained a lot of turnover ball.

He was backed up in the strong Dunedin front row by hooker Finnbar Boyle with his accurate tackling and his ability to carry the ball forward.

The other key player in the Dunedin pack was flanker Hugh Blake with his support play and his ability to help the continuity of the attacks.

Louis Tili controlled play efficiently and had his best game of the season at first five-eighth. He grabbed an intercept midway through the second spell and dashed 65m for a try. He also kicked six goals and scored 19 points.

Green Island played a bustling game and forced turnover ball and it took 20 minutes for Dunedin to settle into its rhythm.

The drought was broken when Dunedin gained turnover ball and fullback Ashton Tuck ran 65m for the try.

Dunedin scored two first-half tries to lead 20-7 at the break.

It kept spinning the ball wide and added four more tries in the second spell.

Dunedin 44 (Ashton Tuck, Sione Pulu,      Tumua Ioane, Louis Tili, Fraser Lau, Mark Atkins tries; Tili      4 con, 2 pens), Green Island 17 (Jesse Toto, James Spooner 2      tries; Toto con). Halftime: Dunedin 20-7. Referee: Adam      Morrison.

It was close to full time and Dunedin led 29-24 when Harbour mounted a concerted attack. Joubert went down the blindside and stretched out for the line.

The Dunedin players claimed he had been held up over the line but the touch judge ruled that he had scored the try in the corner.

First five-eighth Lance Taylor landed the difficult conversion and Harbour won by two points. Dunedin looked to have the game safely tucked away when wing Ashton Tuck scored his second try and the lead was 29-17. But Joubert, the new Otago captain, came on with 25 minutes left and put grunt into the Harbour forwards. He made turn-overs and helped the pack to win five rucks in a  row. Lively Harbour No 8 Brad Griffiths scored his second try with five minutes left to reduce the gap to five points.

Dunedin had control in the first half and scored three tries to lead 17-7 at the break. The lead should have been bigger but knock-ons, dropped      passes and turn-over ball was costly for Dunedin. Lock Mark Grieve-Dunn was dominant in the lineout and Mark Atkins and Gareth Evans were lively loose forwards.

It was a game Dunedin should have won but basic mistakes proved costly.

- Harbour 31 (Eben Joubert, Pete Mirrielees, Brad Griffiths 2, Craig Sneddon tries; Lance Taylor 3 con), Dunedin 29 (Sione Pulu 2, Ashton Tuck, Fraser Lau 2 tries; Sam Giddens, Louis Tili cons). Halftime: Dunedin 17-7. Referee: Ben O’Keefe.

But it had the home crowd scratching their heads when it led only 9-0 at the break, despite having a monopoly of ball from set pieces and playing with the wind advantage.

The only points in the first spell came from three penalty goals by fullback Liam Edwards who added four conversions in the second spell to score 17 points.

In the first spell, Dunedin knocked the ball on nine times and also coughed up ball with 11 forward passes. Zingari had more players committed to the breakdown and blew Dunedin away at the ruck and maul. Dunedin held on to the ball for more phases in the second spell and was rewarded with five tries.

Loose forwards Hugh Blake and Gareth Evans were the pick of the Dunedin forwards and lock Anthony Diack and hooker Finnbar Boyle had tidy games. The best of the backs were Edwards, wing Daryl Caldwell and centre Tumua Ioane. The best Zingari forwards were the experienced Chris Bell at No 8 and flanker Kris Miller. The inside pairing of Enoka Taufua and Jonnie Hughes had strong defensive games.

- Dunedin 42 (Daryl Caldwell, Hugh Blake, Gareth Evans, Anthony Diack, Kai Daniels tries; Liam Edwards 4 con, 3 pen), Zingari-Richmond 12 (Kris Miller, Colin Enright tries; Ben Bradley con). Halftime: 9-0. Referee: Ryan Palmer.

The move went through four phases before the ball was spread  wide and Pulu used his strength to race 10m to score the winning try.

He also scored a try in the first half when he ran 30m after a strong break up the right wing by No 8 Mark Atkins. The  first half ended all square with a score line of 10-10.

Two penalty goals by first five-eighth Glenn Dickson gave Pirates a 16-13 lead after 29 minutes in the second spell.

The key to Dunedin’s win was its strong defence, led by Atkins, Hugh Blake and Gareth Evans, that shut down Pirates’ potent attack by its mobile and rugged forwards around the fringes.

Pirates tried to move the ball wide but ran into the brick wall of Richard Laming and Tumua Ioane in the midfield.

Hooker Finnbar Boyle was a terrier and joined forces with the loose forwards to stop Pirates at the breakdown.

Dickson scored all of Pirates’ points. His early try, after four phases, gave Pirates a 10-0 lead after 12 minutes. He also kicked four goals from his four attempts.

- Dunedin 18 (Sione Pulu 2 tries; Liam      Edwards con, 2 pen), Pirates 16 (Glenn Dickson try; Dickson      con, 3 pen). Halftime: 10-10. Referee: Jeff Grubb.