Northland rugby: No fairy-tale ending for Taniwha and Kauri rugby teams

Tevita Latu during the game in Napier on Friday. Photo / Photosport

There were to be no fairy-tale endings for the Taniwha and the Northland Kauri in Napier, and fans who made the trip down south shouldn’t be in the least bit surprised at the end results.

After three matches in the Bunnings Warehouse NPC and Farah Palmer Cups respectively, both teams have just a solitary win from three games and must ram into fifth gear to go deep into the season.

The Taniwha conspired against themselves to lose to Hawke’s Bay 55-30 in the Ranfurly Shield challenge on Friday, going into neutral gear after a standout opening quarter when the side’s attack and defence were bang-on.

The Northland Kauri were hammered 43-20 by the Hawke’s Bay Tūī. In the NPC match, the Magpies gifted Northland a prime attacking opportunity straight from the kickoff after centre Nick Grigg fumbled the ball.

Northland showed plenty of fire in the belly, good execution, textbook tackles and clever switch plays.

They attacked the breakdown like a wildebeest at a watering hole and opted to play in the right areas of the field to lead 9-0 in the opening quarter.

Rivez Reihana’s deadly accurate kicks and Tevita Latu and Corey Evans’ probing runs all made for an enthralling yet lopsided contest in that quarter. Evans’ copybook tackle on Hawke’s Bay fullback Harry Godfrey before Reihana and Latu combined to effect a turnover in the Magpies’ half got Northland on the front foot.

But those were exactly the sort of plays that deserted them after the first quarter and the hosts pounced. No 10 Clinton McClutchie sniffed an opportunity and swooped down the midfield channel before hooker Jacob Devery powered his way to the tryline.

Northland’s implosion began from that point on, and the team gifted the Magpies prime real estate off set piece plays when on two occasions, Taniwha players attempted to keep the ball into play when they should have let go in favour of their own lineout throws.

The momentum swing gave the brilliant halves’ pair of McClutchie and the omnipresent Folau Fakatava the wriggle room to play to their strengths.

Folau’s tactical awareness and game management were a cut above. He was snappy and sharp, alive to where the space was and, the more momentum the Magies built, the more influential the duo became.

They looked so much like playing behind a Rolls-Royce pack. The hosts took their half-chances, and the speed at which they played and the variety of threats they posed were too much for Northland to handle.

While the Taniwha were gallant, committed and ceaselessly enthusiastic, they will also look back and know they should have replicated their first-quarter performance right throughout the game.

Instead, Northland looked flat, passive and a touch tired, and while there were moments of brilliance and, at one stage, they narrowed the score to just 10 points, the Magpies went into fifth gear to finish the game on a high.

The stats were telling. In the third quarter, the Magpies were in the opposition 22 for a whopping nine minutes in comparison to Northland’s just under two minutes.

Scoring just before and just after halftime put the hosts in a good stead to finish the game on a high.

For Northland, all is not lost on the proviso the side is able sustain high-octane rugby for the full 80 minutes, especially against quality sides.

The team has the hunger, general all-round skills and the calibre of players capable of conjuring up the unthinkable.

This heavy loss showed the Taniwha players and coaching group the chasm they need to bridge before they are considered genuine heavyweights of premier domestic competition rugby in New Zealand. Northland host Southland in Whangārei on Friday, while the Kauri take on Counties Manukau in Pukekohe on September 1.