Rugby: Whangarei in shield blitz

Whangarei fullback Latiume Fosita dots down in the first half of their Harding Shield clash against Bay of Islands at Toll Stadium. Fosita's try was one of 14 his side scored to demolish the Bay 86-10. Photo/John Stone

Nine first-half tries by Whangarei left no ifs, buts or maybes about the side claiming the Harding Shield in its centenary year at Toll Stadium.

Whangarei blew the defending champions Bay of Islands off the park on Saturday as they ran out winners 86-10, thanks largely to a 36-point haul from Tyler Lansdowne.

Lansdowne picked up four tries in total, scoring two in the first half along with Brooke Gilmore, as well as converting eight of the team's 14 tries.

Bay of Islands seemed to struggle to match Whangarei's intensity from the kick-off as Gilmore scored his first try within the first two minutes.

Five minutes later Gilmore was in again after halfback Jason Guthrie took a quick tap from a penalty on their 22 and combined with Kara Pryor to set up Gilmore out wide.

And it didn't stop there, as Whangarei continued to score at five-minute intervals for pretty much the whole first half. Scorers Pryor, Latiume Fosita, Miracle Tulua, Dan McCully and Sione Kite helped to make it a 53-0 halftime score.

As ITM Cup coach Derren Witcombe said at the start of the Harding Shield, and club rugby, it was the Taniwha-contracted players who were doing the damage for their teams.

Whangarei and Northland second-five Vili Tahitu'a consistently caused trouble for the Bay of Islands out wide, often offloading to Gilmore or McCully who danced their way through the opposition.

While the contest was more competitive in the second half, with Bay of Islands getting some decent possession and gaining metres through captain Travis Larsen, it still produced five tries for Whangarei. Crossing the chalk in the second half for Whangarei were hooker Jordon Olsen, prop Shaun Davies, and back Jason Young and Lansdowne, twice.

For the Bay, newly named Blues under-18 development squad member Haupeke Brown scored a stunner of a try, and Eli George also scored.

Whangarei captain Cam Eyre said after the game his side was fortunate in having player depth and getting good numbers at training.

"Today blew out a bit but the rest of the games have been tough and tight," he said. "It has been a good competition, probably for a lot of teams it has been a war of attrition."

Northland Rugby Union chief executive Jeremy Parkinson said it was satisfying to see the Harding Shield so hotly contested this year, with three of the four teams on Saturday having a chance at claiming the shield.

"When I was a young fella 20 years ago growing up in Kaitaia the Harding Shield was the backbone to Northland rugby," Parkinson explained.

"So we've worked hard over the last few years to put it back on the map, [and the] final showed Whangarei are deserved champions.

"I wanted to thank the clubs and sub unions ... I know there is a lot of frustration out there that the clubs aren't playing and they've had three weekends off but this is a 100-year-old shield and we need to respect that and hopefully it is around in another 100 years."

For more Harding Shield action see page 29.

Whangarei 86 (Brooke Gilmore (2), Tyler Lansdowne (4), Kara Pryor, Latiume Fosita, Miracle Tulua, Dan McCully, Sione Kite, Jordan Olsen, Shaun Davies, Jason Young; Lansdowne 8 cons) BOI 10 (Haupeke Brown, Eli George).

Northern Wairoa/Rodney 53 Mangonui 19