{"id":629446,"date":"2026-04-25T06:28:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T06:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/629446\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T06:28:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T06:28:23","slug":"hookers-remarkable-eight-try-start-to-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/629446\/","title":{"rendered":"Hooker’s remarkable eight-try start to season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Eastern-Northern Barbarians hooker Liam Ferguson has twice scored four tries in a game in the opening three rounds of Southland\u2019s premier club rugby competition. Photo: DEBBIE FAHEY\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Liam Ferguson has done it again.<\/p>\n

A fortnight ago, the Eastern-Northern Barbarians hooker created headlines when he scored four tries in the opening round of Southland\u2019s premier club rugby competition.<\/p>\n

On Thursday night, he replicated that usually rare accomplishment when he latched onto another four try haul in a 48-27 win over Woodlands at Woodlands.<\/p>\n

At eight tries, Ferguson finds himself well clear of Marist outside back Tiam Toufan, who sits second on the list of leading try scorers after the first three rounds.<\/p>\n

While Ferguson\u2019s remarkable try-scoring feat has again sparked a talking point, the real matter at play following Thursday night is the fact that the Barbarians are now three from three to start their 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

The Gore-based outfit is now the only unbeaten in the competition.<\/p>\n

Barbarians coach AJ Aitken is obviously delighted with where his team is at, although he acknowledged the 48-27 scoreline did not reflect how tight the contest was against Woodlands.<\/p>\n

It took the Barbarians until very late in the game to shake the spirited Woodlands side.<\/p>\n

\u201cWoodlands were right in it until about 10 or 12 to go; they were attacking hard,\u201d Aitken said.<\/p>\n

Looseforward Sloane Lankshear again provided Woodlands with a real threat at the breakdown, while Liam Howley, at first five-eighth, directed the team around well.<\/p>\n

For the Barbarians, lock Harrison Morton was their best, producing an impressive display.<\/p>\n

Ferguson was also good, while first five-eighth Taylor Peterson has been a key figure through the first three games for the Barbarians.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Greg Dyer\u2019s value at the club level continues to be evident.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old first five-eighth has played 36 games for the Stags, a further eight at Heartland Championship level for North Otago, and last year brought up game No 100 for Pirates-Old Boys.<\/p>\n

It has probably been in that Pirates-Old Boys jersey in Southland club rugby where Dyer has had the biggest impact and looked the most at home over the years. <\/p>\n

Like clockwork, that\u2019s what was on display at Miller St in Invercargill on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

In a somewhat embarrassment of riches, Pirates-Old Boys still have potentially the second best No 10 in Southland club rugby, Kaea Nikora-Balloch, to return this season as well.<\/p>\n

Dyer kicked seven from eight conversions – many of them from out wide – as Pirates-Old Boys ran up a big 54-20 victory over Marist on Thursday.<\/p>\n

While his 19-point haul – seven conversions and a try – was obviously important, Dyer\u2019s general play remained the key cog for Pirates-Old-Boys in the win over Marist.<\/p>\n

Dyer had a key hand in Pirates-Old Boys\u2019 dominant start, with his fingerprints all over two tries in the first eight minutes of the game.<\/p>\n

The second of them, he peeled off a 50-22 kick to put Pirates-Old Boys hot on attack, before soon after delivering a nice cut-out pass that put wing John Vesikuru in to score.<\/p>\n

At 14-0 down after just 10 minutes, Marist had some real problems on its hands.<\/p>\n

To the green-and-blacks\u2019 credit, they bounced back with a couple of unconverted tries to No 8 James Moodie and centre Tiam Toufan to make it 14-10, but that only stemmed the Pirates-Old Boys onslaught for a bit.<\/p>\n

Pirates-Old Boys scored two further first-half tries, with hooker Shaun Kempton a key figure in both.<\/p>\n

Kempton first scored from a lineout drive, before producing a special play when he found himself in the clear, chipped and chased, regathered, and then delivered a nice offload that led to halfback Ngawaka Ririnui scoring.<\/p>\n

That made it 26-10 at halftime, and when Ririnui scored again soon after halftime to make it 33-10, Pirates-Old Boys had kicked well clear.<\/p>\n

Pirates-Old Boys scored a further three second-half tries to push the final score out to 54-20.<\/p>\n

Marist picked up two second-half tries itself, which meant the home team at least finished with a four-try bonus point. That could well prove important later in the season when the semifinal spots are sorted.<\/p>\n

Toufan, who started the game at centre and moved to fullback, was again Marist\u2019s most dangerous attacking threat after his three-try haul against Blues the week before.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Pirates-Old Boys first five-eighth Greg Dyer continues to be one of the best in Southland\u2019s premier club rugby competition. Photo: DEBBIE FAHEY\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If we\u2019re blatantly honest, this wasn\u2019t the sort of performance from both teams that will send any fear floating through the other four teams in the competition.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s park that and take a half glass full look at this game.<\/p>\n

A combined 79 points, including 13 tries, were scored by Star and Blues under lights at Waverley Park on Friday night.<\/p>\n

For Star, the 45-34 victory provided it with its first win in 2026, and they made it a maximum with the four-try bonus point.<\/p>\n

For Blues, for the second week in a row, they banked a four-try bonus point, which suggests they\u2019ve got some points in them when they are switched on.<\/p>\n

Blues also finished the best of the two teams, scoring the final three tries of the game.<\/p>\n

However, the damage had largely been done by Star in the first half, starting inside the first two minutes of the game when wing Fale Iosefa crossed for a well-worked try.<\/p>\n

Star scored a further four first-half tries, two of them to centre Hughan Sharp, and when veteran lock Josh Bekhuis crossed on the stroke of halftime, the home team had pushed out to a 31-12 lead.<\/p>\n

Blues lock TJ Gallen scored early in the second half to bring it back to 31-17, but when Star then scored two tries in relatively quick succession – one to Lachlan Springford and the other to Keflar Morrison – the score blew out to 45-17.<\/p>\n

Both teams then rang the changes and cleared the benches, and it was Blues who had Star back-peddling in the final 20 minutes of the game.<\/p>\n

For Star, first five-eighth Sam Mustchin again was one of his team\u2019s best, whether it be with his goal-kicking boot or simply pointing his team around the field.<\/p>\n

Second five-eighth Micaiah Johnston-Brown carried the ball strongly, while the Star scrum was dominant.<\/p>\n

For Blues, another first five-eighth, Connor Bolton, impressed, while lock TJ Gallen toiled away throughout the game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>First five-eighth Sam Mustchin was again one of Star\u2019s best in the 45-34 win over Blues on Friday night.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Riverton 22, Waikaka\/Riversdale 21
Pioneer 37, Albion 12
Wyndham 48, Tokanui 0
Edendale 29, Waikiwi 22<\/p>\n

Mossburn 18, Wakatipu 14
Midlands 57, Te Anau 5
Drummond-Limehills-Star 29, Bluff 19
Central Pirates 64, Wright\u2019s Bush 7
Marist 22, Pirates-Old Boys 19
Star 41, Blues 28
Woodlands 36, Collegiate 33<\/p>\n

Marist 49, Blues 10
Wakatipu beat Star by default
Pioneer – bye<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eastern-Northern Barbarians hooker Liam Ferguson has twice scored four tries in a game in the opening three rounds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-629446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}