THE Blackwater Basilisks lost one star but gained another in their trial match against the Rolleston Roos on Saturday.
In a tight, gruelling contest in Rolleston, the Basilisks were edged out 24-19, and lost Antony Darlison to a broken eye socket and cheekbone.
Basilisks president Jeff Hansen said the injuries would be long-term ones.
“He’s got to get surgery on that,” Hansen said.
“He’ll be out for a large majority of the season.
“He’ll miss definitely all of the first half of the season.”
But the disappointment of losing Darlison was tempered by the promising performance of new recruit JamesWatson, who took away the players’ player award.
Watson returned from a bloody nose halfway through the game to be a key player for his side.
“It’s good to see him join the Basilisks,” Hansen said.
Hansen said the game itself was reflective of the early stage of the season.
“It was pretty close,” he said.
“It wasn’t probably great rugby played by either side.
“Neither team really had control of the game.”
But he saw a number of positive signs as well.
“We’ve got a lot of strengths there that we can use,” he said. “It’s real good.” Jacob McCabe, making his captaincy debut, also impressed in the game.

Blackwater Herald, 15 April 2014,