The withdrawal of starting midfield pair David Havili and Cooper Roberts gave the Tasman Mako an early scare before beating Southland 46-17 at Trafalgar Park on Saturday.
That meant a backline reshuffle, with Nic Sauira promoted from the bench and Cooper Grant, who wasn’t in the original game day 23, elevated to second five.
To complicate matters even more, first five William Havili was off for a head injury assessment after just 10 minutes.
By that stage, the Stags were already 7-0 up thanks to their slippery Highlanders halfback Nic Shearer.
A break by Lopeti Faifua led to the home side’s first try to fellow flanker Johnny Lee, but when halfback Mason Lund had a clearing kick charged down by loose forward Sam Fischli, Southland went ahead 12-7.
Fullback Maloni Kunawave then cracked the defence and found wing Kyren Taumoefolau to score his ninth try of the season, which sent the teams to the break locked up at 12-all.
When reserve hooker Eli Oudenryn was stopped just short of the line, another of the reserves, halfback Wil Thornalley, finished off as the Mako edged ahead 17-12 in the 52nd minute.
But Southland has proved very competitive this season and hit straight back from a lineout drive, with second five Fletcher Morgan eventually scoring.
The scoreboard read 17-all, game on.
Not for long though, as Tasman changed gears with four tries in 12 minutes.
After the Stags blew the restart, William regained his own kick and put Lopeti away for the first.
Kyren gave Maloni space, and he just made it to score in the corner. Kyren then supplied the final pass to David Havili, who had just subbed on two minutes earlier.
The four try blitz was completed when David made a break, linked with Maloni, who slipped an inside pass to reserve back Taine Robinson.
The Mako then produced a sweeping length of the field movement in the 81st minute, with Maloni giving Kyren the ball for a double to complete a 46-17 romp, its third victory in four games.
The side heads to Whangarei next weekend to challenge a resurgent Northland for the Ranfurly Shield.
