Northland come up short in epic showdown against Auckland

Rivez Reihana played in an epic contest at Semenoff Stadium in the Bunnings Warehouse NPC round-six clash.

In the end, Northland huffed and puffed and left everything on the field. Referee Ben O’Keeffe’s ruling that Rivez Reihana knocked the ball on, on the tryline on the hooter felt like a dagger through the heart of Northland players and fans.

It was an epic contest at Semenoff Stadium and, despite the hosts coming up short 17-24 in this Bunnings Warehouse NPC round-six clash on Sunday, the Taniwha were not deterred by the big names Auckland rolled out.

Northland had a good measure of All Black Patrick Tuipulotu, former All Black Angus Ta’avao, Bryce Heem and skipper Harry Plummer in almost every facet of play, but particularly in defence, for a large tranche of the first half.

Although having any number of players with the X-factor, Auckland otherwise looked capable but not deadly. Useful but with flaws, they hung in there and got the job done.

This match could have swayed either way. Reihana’s relatively easy conversion hitting the upright, Brady Rush bolting down the midfield off a grubber but getting isolated in the tackle inside Auckland’s 22, and Nathan Salmon being held up on the tryline saved the visitors from an embarrassing loss.

Northland beat them in Whangārei by a point in 2022, but Auckland took their revenge last year, winning by the same margin.

On Sunday, the Taniwha came within a hair’s breadth and had the scrummaging power, the lineout smarts, physicality and the defensive clout across the field to be competitive.

After Quinton Nichols scored to make it a 12-point game with 20 minutes to go, Northland reminded Auckland that — a bit like Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson — if they scored another try, the Taniwha would reply with two.

By that stage, Auckland’s metres gained (396m) was nearly four times that of Northland (106m), having scored two quick tries after halftime.

Reihana led the charge from that point on. He knew there had to be space somewhere on the field and it would be found by running, passing or kicking into it.

He drew several defenders before offloading to workaholic Rob Rush who slipped off the tackle of Plummer to touch down and narrow the scores to only a converted try.

Northland played in the right areas of the field and exerted enough pressure in the dying minutes, but came up agonisingly close.

They host North Harbour at the same venue on Saturday. The Taniwha have now lost six matches and are languishing second to last on the points table, ahead of winless Manawatū.