Mightily stocked with front-row power, the quality of this Taniwha side is so neatly balanced around their defence, the strength of their scrum, an astute kicking game (for the most part) and decent lineout jumpers.
However, there are times when they let their guard down and that’s what Northland’s coaches will be wary of, especially deeper in the competition.
Such was the case in the first spell on Saturday when the Magpies, led by nippy Folau Fakatava and human wrecking ball Miracle Fai’ilagi, swooped from everywhere and had the hosts struggling.
Fakatava almost single-handedly orchestrated their dominance through sniping runs around rucks and the timing of his pass that allowed the visitors to score a brace of tries off great leg drives.
Fai’ilagi dragged multiple Northland defenders to the tryline after fielding a looping pass on the short side.
Centre Nick Griggs scored in a similar fashion, taking three Northland defenders with him.
Magpies skipper, hooker Jacob Devery, and the Hurricanes duo of Pouri Rakete-Stones and Isaia Walker-Leawere also featured prominently in the opening spell.
Their patterns were strong, their set piece and mauling were tight and they disrupted the hosts’ flow, though narrowly trailed 13-12 at the interval after Corey Evans grazed the chalk on the stroke of halftime.
Another try to Brady Rush just after the breather set the platform for the Northland victory.
Frustration mounted for Hawke’s Bay as their scrum creaked under pressure and Northland became more assertive at the breakdown.
Rob Rush delivered all-round gung-ho aggression and granite carries. He knew where and when to attack the Magpies.
He was, unsurprisingly, gnarly and competitive at the breakdown and defence as possession dried up for the visitors and penalties mounted.
They spent their time on tackling duty until Zarn Sullivan won the race to the tryline off broken play, followed by a Harry Godfrey penalty as Hawke’s Bay took a 22-20 lead.
But Northland had other ideas. Veteran Sam Nock touched down after 17 phases of pick and go and the lead changed hands, with 10 minutes left on the clock.
When Northland effected a crucial turnover off a Hawke’s Bay lineout, followed by a gang tackle by Rivez Reihana and Rob Rush on Jonah Lowe with the tryline begging, it was game over.
Northland are on the road this week, facing Otago on Friday.
