The weekends final games in round one of the rugby union season threw up surprise upset wins where the underdog teams in the senior A division rose up and beat their opponents.

At Titikaveka, the Takuvaine Reds senior A team pulled out all the stops to edge out the Bulls 29-27 and at the Avatiu Swamp the Eels struggled to contain the Tupapa Panthers who won the messy game 23-17.

In the weekends CITC main match of the week the Ngatangiia-Matavera Dragons kept their composure and cool to outplay the visiting and seemingly stronger Arorangi Cowboys packs 30-28.

The Dragons flying fullback Sailosi Nagi was the hero after he scored his second try for the day right on fulltime.

Nagi scored after collecting a wayward Cowboys chip kick and from 50 metres out he slammed on the after burners to outstrip the scrambling Cowboys defence and score in the seaside right-hand corner much to the delight of the home-ground Dragons fans.

The Dragons went into the halftime break leading by a shaky 10-0.

There were a total of 48 points scored in the 2nd half providing plenty of excitement and despair as the lead changed hands many times throughout the half as both teams matched each other blow for blow.

The Cowboys went about their business in the 2nd half keeping the ball close with their imposing and dominant forward pack depriving the Dragons of any possession and at one stage the Cowboys looked in-control leading by 22-17.

But then the Dragons finally discovered that with minimal possession the only way to win this match was to utilize possession and not kick the ball away aimlessly, which also included successfully launching attacks from their own goal-line.

The majority of the Dragons line-breaks resulted in tries being scored out wide on the fringes and some wonderful tries were scored too especially the effort by the Dragons 18-year-old speedy left wing Juda Loki.

After a scrum move Loki was able to collect a chip kick ahead by Nagi and from 40 metres out Loki beat 4 cover-defenders on the in-step including the Cowboys two speedsters Pokoroa Pauka and Spoon Marsters and ended up scoring in the opposite right hand corner of the field.

Best for the Dragons were national sevens rep Sailosi Nagi and tough-midfielder Thomas Toa.

For the Cowboys the standout players were props Timi Shadow Tunui and David Heather.

Clubs can expect to see some changes in the points table after the weekends results as the season heads into the second round.

Ahead in the week the Cowboys will play the Eels at Raemaru Park while the Panthers will host the Bulls and the Dragons head to the happy valley to rumble with the Reds.

- Ruck and maul

Full results:

Bulls vs Reds (Bulls scores first) Senior A grade-27 vs 29, Senior B grade-26 vs 15, Under 19 grade-7 vs 17, Under 16 grade-17 vs 15, Under 13 grade-17 vs 5.

Eels vs Panthers (Eels scores first) Senior A grade-17 vs 23, Senior B grade-Eels won by default, Under 19 grade-17 vs 0, Under 16 grade-26 vs 31, Under 13 grade-7 vs 12.

Dragons vs Cowboys (Dragons scores first) Senior A grade-30 vs 28, Senior B grade-3 vs 27, Under 16 grade-0 vs 114, Under 13 grade-7 vs 48.