Slipshod Taniwha put to sword

Disastrous defending at the end of the first spell saw Northland concede three tries to set up an uphill second half contest that eventually proved too steep, allowing Counties-Manukau to win the vital mid-table clash 40-24 at Growers Stadium yesterday.
The athletic Counties side overcame a patchy start to get into their work in the second quarter. The forwards made good metres off the back of the ruck but the tries came from lateral movement. By moving the ball from side to side, Counties stretched and eventually penetrated the Taniwha defence and once they made a bust, there was invariably support on hand.
Counties turned a 3-10 deficit at the 25minute mark into a 27-7 lead at the break, thanks to tries to Lee Fritz, Taisina Tuifua and Sherwin Stowers.
The Taniwha showed great heart to fight their way back into the game early in the second spell with Rhyan Caine's second try and another to Dean Budd narrowing the gap to six points. But Northland couldn't finish off the comeback and an intercept try to replacement Ahsee Tuala with less than 10 minutes to go finished the game off.
Taniwha skipper Jared Payne was not impressed with the tackling of his team and said it cost them the game.
"We couldn't make our one-on-one tackles and in the end that killed us," he said.
Northland were still on top when Rene Ranger went down clutching a hamstring and was replaced by Simon Munro, but Payne said it shouldn't have been a turning point.
"Losing him hurt us because he's a special player but having said that one player doesn't make a team so we should have been able to carry on without him."
"Counties played a smart game, they realised the trouble we were having with our defence and took advantage of it," he said.
Counties, after trying a few kicks early on in the first spell, shelved the idea for the rest of the game and kept the ball in hand and they had more luck holding on to the ball than Northland did.
Northland coach Bryce Woodward replaced Dan Pryor with Cameron Goodhue and injured Tim Dow with Mikaele Tuu'u at half-time in an effort to shore up the defence and it almost worked. Woodward said he was pleased with how Northland came back in the second half. "Not that's it's much of a consolation but we out-scored Counties in the second half," he said.
Northland once again finished a game a try short of a four-try bonus point. Woodward was disappointed the referee didn't award Northland a penalty try in the dying minutes when Fritz was sent off making a last head high tackle on halfback Luke Hamilton.
"We should have got a penalty try. It was a poor decision but he probably didn't get any help from the assistant referees but clearly if that tackle hadn't been made then he [Hamilton] would have been in under the posts ... and in the end it cost us a point, maybe more."
Hamilton had replaced Rhyan Caine, who had been excellent for the Taniwha, and then threw a couple of loose passes - one of which gifted Tuala his try.
Woodward may have rued his decision to replace the Hikurangi halfback.
"With the benefit of hindsight, that's probably a fair call but I thought we'd just started to get some flow on and the additional spark of Luke might come in handy to bust them open," he said.
The side will now view their match against Waikato on Saturday as a must win game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
8min - Tim Nanai-Williams penalty.
18min - Good work by Northland rewarded with a simple try to Rhyan Caine. Solid Taniwa scrum 5m out saw Cam Eyre take the ball of the back and pass to Caine who shrugged off a poor tackle by David Raikuna to jog under the posts to score. Lachie Munro converts. 3-7.
26min - Quick tap from scrum free-kick rumbled forward and then spun wide to Tana Umaga, who steps inside before being tackled and flicking a miraculous ball into Lee Fritz to dive over. Williams converts. 10-7.
31min - Lock Taisina Tuifua finds some room on the wing - he's cut down one metre short and Simon Lemanu picks the ball out of the ruck to flop over for the try. Williams converts. 17-7.
38min  - Line-out loss for Northland capitalised on eventually by Tuifua who finds overlap on wing. 22-7
40min - Counties again swing ball from side-to-side looking for space, this time Sherwin Stowers' speed makes a hole to score after the hooter. 27-7 Halftime.
42min  - Counties knock-on gives Northland early chance and Caine chips behind line, regathered by Simon Munro who's taken ball short. Caine recycles and scores blindside. Munro converts 27-14.
44min - Northland move ball around until Dean Budd straightens and pushes off Siale Piutau to charge toward line. Munro converts 27-21.
58min - Williams penalty 30-21.
60min - Munro penalty 30-24.
65min  - Dean Cummins penalty 33-24.
72min  - Luke Hamilton pass picked off by Ahsee Tuala who runs 70m to score. Cummins converts 40-24.