FOR the second week in a row Dubbo Rhinos Gold have come back from a half-time deficit, winning their match against Trangie 38-20 on Sunday, while Rhinos Black showed improvement when they went down to Coolah 24-5 on Saturday.
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The Black Rhinos saw little of the ball in the first half and allowed in three tries to go to the sheds 19 points down.
Their scrum was powerful but the service across the backline was too slow and was constantly being picked off.
Royce Parnaby, best player and players' player, defended like a terrier down the right wing as wave after wave of Coolah attack tried and failed to beat him.
The second stanza was a different story.
The Rhino fitness held up much better this week and the boys showed what they could do by sharing the score at one try each to go down 24-5.
Big No.8 and try-scorer Luke Gibbs, hooker Bryce Adamson and skipper Mark Davies led the forwards well, while new recruit Lee Dawson got the backs moving when he came on after the break.
Ben Charlton, world's smallest fullback, played far above his weight and was safe under the high ball and Parnaby played strongly till the end.
Parnaby took the three points, Bryce Adamson got two and Lee Dawson got one
On Sunday the Gold Rhinos trekked to Trangie to play the locals for the first time.
The ground was in fair conditions considering a league carnival used the soft oval the previous day.
The surface was still soggy in places but did not affect the fast, flowing rugby from both sides.
Despite a treble from winger Vili Cagibula, flanker Kane Rich was far and away the best player on field.
A try through the middle of the ruck, more than 20 tackles and booting three goals when called upon, Rich totally dominated and cut off a number of attacking raids.
Former centre Adam Wells will become an accomplished lock and the rest of the pack played much better than against Yeoval.
The first half was a see-sawing affair with Trangie kicking a penalty on the bell to lead 13-12.
Both sides found gaps in opposition defence, but failed to take advantage of field position and squandered a number of chances with wrong options.
Coach Darren Taylor, who speaks fluent blaspheme, was somewhat unkind during oranges and the team came out in a more positive frame of mind.
Cagibula scored in the first minutes and for the next quarter hour the scoreboard operator worked overtime until the Rhinos led 24-20.
From that point captain Nick Rathbone led his men with charges through the ruck and the speedy back row made inroads in the opposition and piled on another three unanswered tries to come away with a well-deserved 38-20 win and a share of the lead in the Cup competition.
Kane Rich was voted player's player and collected three points while Vili Cagibula took two points and Nick Rathbone and Matt Trumper one apiece.