NPC rugby: Sloppy defence Northland's Achilles heel in heavy loss

Northland wing Tamati Tua takes on the Wellington defence in the 54-7 loss in the opening round of Bunnings NPC. Photo / Getty Images

It was always going to be an uphill battle against the Lions in their den where the outrageous set of skills they showed was reassuringly devoid of inhibition.

Northland's Bunnings Warehouse Cup campaign 2021 got off to a horror start at Sky Stadium on Saturday

with a 54-7 loss to Wellington, while a red card to first five Dan Hawkins and explosive centre Rene Ranger picking up an injury added to the team's woes.

The hosts' blast of energy and dynamism were too much for the visitors who missed 39 tackles allowing man-of-the-match Taine Plumtree, son of All Black assistant coach John Plumtree, Peter Umaga-Jensen and skipper Du-Plessis Kirifi to run riot across the park.

There were periods, especially midway through the first spell, when the Taniwha were able to exert pressure and managed to score under the posts to bridge the gap to just one score but lacked execution thereafter.

It took just two minutes for Plumtree, who scored a hat-trick, to open the scores, following a brilliant break down the midfield channel by Wes Goosen after some sloppy defence.

He struck again a couple of minutes later. Halfback Richard Judd found a crevice around the scrum, sold a dummy, bolted down the blindside and offloaded to Plumtree on the inside.

Northland kept allowing Wellington attacking opportunities and by the 18th minute, the Taniwha had made 20 tackles and missed 10.

But they kept their nerve and forced the Lions into mistakes off set-piece play. They made a foray into the hosts' half and were rewarded with their solitary try, to skipper Jordan Olsen who earlier turned down three points in favour of a lineout.

Referee Tipene Cottrell was playing advantage to Northland when Olsen flew past Dominic Bird off a ruck to score after some patient build-up play.

Northland forced the Lions to adjust mentally and physically to the core business of scrum and tackle, lineout and lineout drive for a better part of the first spell.

Their front and second rows, on occasions, reminded Wellington that they don't have tight fives who run up the white flag.

But, for all the effort, sloppy defence reared its ugly head again. Scott Gregory slipped which allowed Umaga-Jensen — the sort of player who can lift those around him — to win the race to the tryline.

The Lions showed in the second half how ruthless and supremely drilled they are, whether in making a neat pass, throwing a dummy or driving through multiple defenders to open space and build momentum.

"They're a quality team and unfortunately, we couldn't quite match them in probably most areas of the game. But that's no excuse because every team in this competition is good, there are no easy games," Olsen summed up his side's performance.

Being able to build multiple phases and getting the reward has been pleasing, he said, but they could not do that more often.

Northland skipper Jordan Olsen scores his side's only try in the heavy loss to Wellington Lions at Sky Stadium. Photo / Getty Images

On defence, Olsen conceded his side leaked points pretty softly on a number of occasions and that was one area they needed to iron out before the first home game at Semenoff Stadium this weekend.

It was a tough match too, no doubt, for newcomers Raikabula Momoedonu and Rivez Reihana but they would be better for the experience playing against tough opposition, he said.

"We'll review the game. The fixes are simple and we have an eight-day turnaround which should give us time to be able to prepare well for the first home game against Taranaki."

The game against Taranaki kicks off at Semenoff Stadium at 4.35pm next Sunday

while the next home game is against Otago a week later.