The Dunedin Rugby Football Club (Inc)

Dunedin moved firmly into a semifinals spot when it outclassed University  47-19 in premier club rugby on Saturday.

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.

Prop David Smart gave an aggressive display and played a key role in Dunedin’s 44-17 win over Green Island at Miller Park.

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.

Replacement flanker Eben Joubert scored a controversial late  try to give Harbour an upset 31-29 win over Dunedin at Kettle Park.

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.

Dunedin came to life in the second spell to win an error-ridden game 42-12 at Kettle Park.

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.

A desperate Pirates defence failed to stop a rampaging  Dunedin attack deep inside its 22m in injury time, and winger Sione Pulu’s second try gave Dunedin a surprise win at Hancock Park.

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.