Saturday 4th March

In the opening round of the Ruben Wiki Cup the South Island Scorpions battled against Waikato Mana at League Park in Ngaruwahia.

South Island came in as heavy favourites and confirmed their dominance against the Orcas with a 46-8 victory to start their season.

South Island started off in fine fashion as they scored early in the contest. Waikato struck back with a try of their own to even out the scores however, South Island continued to put pressure on Waikato dotting over the line another three times before half-time.

As second the second half kick off, Waikato showed a glimmer of hope as centre Fale gathered a beautifully weighted chip kick to put their captain Tupou in for a try.

However, that was the only glimpse of fight that Waikato showed as South Island continued where they left off in the first half. Great defensive pressure turned into offence as South Island continued to pile on the points against Waikato with the final score being 46-8.