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The Australian Barbarians side has taken a 38-32 win in the first of two games against the New Zealand Heartland XV at Levin Domain in Levin this afternoon.
The Barbarians were strong all match, with the Heartland pushing hard until the final whistle, but the Aussies were too good and took the bragging rights.
The Barbarians started with a bang straight from the kick-off with Greater Sydney Rams winger Larry Hermens applying great pressure to force the ball out of play just outside the 22.
In the tenth minute, it was Hermens who turned defence into attack after a strong set of phases from the ‘Baa Baas’. A nice outside ball from Paul Asquith sent him over for the first points of the game.
The Heartland XV struck back four minutes later, with outside centre TK Moeke going over after breaking two Barbarian tackles to score. Stephen Perofeta converted the kick to give them the hosts an early lead.
Within two minutes the Barbarians had hit back. A lovely inside ball from UC Vikings’ Rodney Iona found fullback Asquith who put on some neat footwork to dot down under the posts. Isaac Thompson converted and the ‘Baa Baas’ were back in front (12-7).
After a cracking line break from Perth Spirit’s Maalonga Konelio, the Barbarians managed to get a two-on-one in the corner with the captain Ryan Dalziel getting an easy five points and Thompson had no troubles with the conversion.
Read more: http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/nrc...-nz-heartland/