Rugby: Ranger says au revoir with class

Northland rugby icon Rene Ranger put in a performance to remember at Toll Stadium on Saturday as the Taniwha beat Bay of Plenty. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Rene Ranger said 'bon voyage' to Northland rugby with a typically blockbusting performance, leading to a 20-19 victory against the Bay of Plenty in Whangarei.

The Taniwha icon and skipper will soon take up a lucrative three-year deal with French club Montpellier but said he didn't think Saturday's match would be his last at Toll Stadium.

"Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back playing for Northland, I've signed for three years and I should be back after that but we'll have to see what happens," he said after Saturday's match.

Ranger signed off in style, scoring the Taniwhas' first try and making a number of rousing busts, enthralling the crowd each time he got hold of the ball. Two Mateo Malupo bursts of pace in each half saw the winger grab a double, allowing the locals to get ahead and although the Bay sought to come back in the second spell, stout Northland defence kept them at arm's length. The win consigned North Harbour to the wooden spoon in the championship division and sent a decent crowd of over 3000 - not a bad effort given the Taniwha's recent results and the evening's wild weather - home with a smile on their faces.

"I'm pretty happy to finally get the win," Ranger said "It's been a long time coming but I'm pretty proud of the boys to get the win for the fans that came out tonight."

Northland again showed why they had won only one match before Saturday.

While they showed good desperation on defence, they couldn't capitalise on a number of clean breaks that might have had them 20 points clear of the Bay by half-time.

"It wasn't really our season but I still enjoyed it we've got a great team culture but in the end things just haven't gone our way," Ranger said.

The 27-year-old became one of the few players to turn down an All Black jersey early this season with a new baby enticing him to stay close to home and giving him the chance to play another season for the Taniwha.

Teammate Ross Wright said the whole team was determined to see Ranger off with a win.

"He's been at the heart of this team for a number of years now and he's going to be a big loss but it's not all bad news," he said

Wright, who played with Ranger at Wellsford for years before stepping up into the representative ranks, said his influence in an inexperienced squad - with 14 new players - this year had been invaluable.

"We've had a lot of club players coming through the ranks this year, players like Ben Berridge, who I was really proud of tonight, he's the club man to watch next year," he said.

Wright hoped the squad would hang together for the next year or two and be able to mount a title challenge - something that might entice Ranger back from Europe.