RUIGBY: Second-half action brings Northland win

Popular former New Zealand Colts halfback Rhyan Caine made a bold bid to keep his representative jersey by sparking a much-needed Northland resurgence in a frustrating pre-season rugby match against Manawatu in Whangarei on Saturday.
Northland beat Manawatu, one of the promoted teams in the new Air NZ Cup provincial competition this year, 27-13, riding home on the back of an intercept try to centre Matt Faleuka and another boisterous performance from No.8 Jake Paringatai.
But the big talking point afterwards was the impact Caine generated when injected into the game at halftime, the feisty No.9 stamping his mark on the match to add yet more intrigue to what is looming as a tricky selection conundrum for coach Mark Anscombe.
There are four halfbacks supposedly in the mix to pick up Northland contracts this season - Caine, NZ Maori representative Corey Tamou, John Senio, who is currently on duty with Manu Samoa, and Auckland loan player David Gibson.
But Caine took his opportunity on Saturday, delivering such a compelling effort that he may yet leapfrog his way into the squad and make something of a mockery of the loan negotiations with Auckland that resulted in Northland being presented with Gibson.
It wasn't an issue discussed with Anscombe afterwards but it is a sticking point with many Northland rugby supporters who see Caine as the local hero, the man who has battled his way into contention through the local club competition.
Without him on Saturday it looked as if Northland were about to become Manawatu's first victim since they won promotion to the new provincial competition.
Northland were down 13-0 at halftime after a haphazard and stilted performance.
At the break Ansombe added Caine, prop Tony Coughlan and hooker Tim Dow. Then lock Vula Maimuri and midfield back Josh Levi came off the reserves bench moments later.
But it wasn't until the 65th minute that Northland hit the lead and only after Faleuka snatched an intercept and scored in the 70th minute were nervous Northland fans able to breathe easy.
Caine sparked a counter-attack that produced the first Northland try, to winger Isoa Neivua. Paringatai was the main instigator when Tim Dow got over five minutes later, just before Holwell added a penalty goal and Faleuka ghosted his way to a five pointer.
Paringatai added a well-deserved touchdown in the last few minutes.
Anscombe was not too flustered by the performance though. He did acknowledge Caine's role in the comeback and said the fixture had served its purpose: It had provided him with invaluable information.
"Rhyan Caine brought a bit of spark into it and we started using the ball a bit more. Our set piece has got to be sorted. The scrum was under pressure and we lacked accuracy at the lineouts," Anscombe said.
"I think we won't really nail things down until after we play Tasman. We have got to realise where we are and what we have got," he said. "At the end of the day we have the players we have and we have just got to knuckle down now and get on with it."
Northland play Tasman in Nelson on Saturday in another pre-season trial. Anscombe is then expected to name his squad.