Not even the fancy footwork of Northland's Rene Ranger could lead the home side to a win against North Harbour on Saturday. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Not even the fancy footwork of Northland's Rene Ranger could lead the home side to a win against North Harbour on Saturday. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The frustration was evident on the face of Taniwha co-captain Josh Goodhue after yesterday's 24-8 loss to North Harbour in Whangārei.
The game, which saw torrential rain and sunny spells in the space of 80 minutes, was a scrappy, stop-start affair with regular handling errors owing to the slick surface- an unfortunate continuation of poor ball security for Northland in recent weeks.
"[It's] just a little bit frustrating," Goodhue said after the match.
"I think we played some good rugby at times and when we got down into their half, we just failed to execute most of the time."
Taniwha halfback Sam Nock continued his good form. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Execution was the key difference between the sides with Taniwha only crossing the line once through a wonderful piece of creativity from replacement back Rene Ranger who, under advantage and 10 metres out from the Harbour tryline, poked a well-balanced kick through for centre Scott Gregory to dive onto and score in the corner.
Unfortunately for the Taniwha, North Harbour had amassed a 17-3 lead at that point with tries to hooker Luteru Tolai and flyhalf Bryn Gatland - the latter adding both conversions and a penalty.
Northland saw good performances from Ranger, Gregory, halfback Sam Nock, first five Johnny Cooper, fullback Matt Wright and winger Brady Rush. However, the lack of continuity and discipline punished the home side who also saw Ross Wright sin-binned for 10 minutes and Gregory red-carded with just minutes remaining in the game.
"[North Harbour] are just a quality side and when we made mistakes, they were able to captialise," Goodhue said.
The pain was clear on the face of Northland Rugby Union chief executive Cameron Bell. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Rush in particular was a standout in Cambridge Blue with great regathers from the kickoff and was strong over the ball at the ruck.
However, the inability to build phases and create pressure on their opposition will be of real concern for the Taniwha as they prepare to face Auckland and Waikato in the final two rounds of the regular season.
While missing out on the championship semifinals looked unlikely for Northland, Taniwha fans will have a tense time of it should Southland come away with points against Manawatū later today.
Taniwha joy, exhibited here by Dan Hawkins and Scott Gregory (right), was rare at Semenoff Stadium on Saturday. Photo / Michael Cunningham
North Harbour have yet to play Coutnies Manukau and Bay of Plenty as they look to avoid relegation from the premiership.
