Chris Hiini key link for Southland rugby against England in 1985..

Tackling was what was ordered for Southland when they played against England in 1985.  England were pitiful in their quest to get on top of a provincial side and they made mistake after mistake, which was contributed to the great tackling of the Southland team.

England remained tryless in the game and if Southland had not given away points from penalty kicking situations then they would have definitely beat England.
The team was lead by flankers, Paul Henderson and Denis Kelly who repeatedly tackled the English who were looking to play their game around lineouts, rucks and scrums.  
Some of the English team looked far from International players and all their scoring came from penalty goals with five to England first five eight Huw Davies.
There were many incidents that the referee missed and the crowd let him know it.
Once such was when Paul Laidlaw was interfered with when he attempted to chase a Southland downfield kick.
There were other such incidents of Paul Henderson having his head scraped by the boot of Richard Hill, Englands half back and an attempted head butt by prop Malcolm Preedy on his opposite Paul Cosgrove.
It was probably frustration for England as they were not allowed to play with any continuity due to the tight marking from Southland.
Although Southland had fewer opportunities they were not afraid to run at the England team, but they did have more than one occasion where they could have scored a try.  It was a combination of bad passing with the players not knowing when to throw a soft or hard pass.
The Southland team would have been more than pleased with their game which ws a huge improvement on the previous week when they played Otago.
Although two tightheads were conceded the Southland tight of Bain McCall, Paul Cosgrove and Kevin Molloy were more than competitive.
Trevor Bosker played one of his best games for Southland with the No. 8 being inspired by the loosies.
Davis tested Brent McKenzie with some high kicks, which he was safe under.
The Southland backs disrupted the attempts of England's outside backs by the constant tackling.
Murray Brown, first five eight, accurately placed up and unders  to give his men time to contest the ball.
The man of the match would have to have been Chris Hini, the half back for Southland,.  His experience was invaluable with handling some pretty bad balls, box kicking ahead and trying to open up gaps for his team.
England:  Huw Davies (5PG)
Southland:  Brent McKenzie (3PG)

Reference:  OcConnell, L. England Wins 15-9 On Penalty Goals.  The Southland                             Times.  June 1985.

England Team: Bob Hesford, Gary Rees, David Cooke, (captain), Steve Bainbridge, Wade Dooley, Austin Sheppard, Andy Simpson, Malcolm Preedy, Richard Hill, Huw Davies, Chris Martin, Jamie Salmon, Bryan Barley, John Goodwin, Ian Metcalf, Mike Harrison, Stuart Barnes, Nigel Melville, Mike Teague, John Orwin, Steve Brain.

Southland:  Trevor Bokser, Denis Kelly, (captain), Paul Henderson, Alan Byrne, Gordon McKenzie, Kevin Molloy, Bain McCall, Paul Cosgrove, Chris Hiini, Murray Brown, Billy Molloy, John Chittock, Paul Laidlaw (vice captain), Alan Monaghan, Brent McKenzie, Gerard Adams, Brian Dickison, Eric Todd, Brent Youle, Murray Hewitson, Murray Stevens.