Taniwha's sights on breaching Stags' line

Rugby fans are rubbing their hands together in anticipation of tomorrow's ITM Cup clash at Toll Stadium as the best attacking unit in the competition, the Northland Taniwha, go head to head with the best defensive side, the Southland Stags.
Southland come north looking to extend their lead in the ITM Cup but the Taniwha, who cut up Manawatu in their last outing in Whangarei, are hoping to make up for two losses on the road and improve on their ninth place in the standings.
The Stags have conceded the fewest points in the competition to date by virtue of a well organised and disciplined defence but Northland coach Bryce Woodward believes their defence can be breached.
"If we play to our potential we have the ability to open up any team in the competition but what we've got to do as well is to be able to shut teams down," he said.
The failure to defend for the entire 80 minutes against Wellington last week saw the Taniwha surrender a good half-time lead to be defeated 31-28 - and the coach is expecting better from his side this week.
"We've got to defend better than we did last week but having said that, Southland aren't as strong as Wellington but they come at you more consistently, so it's a matter of getting our systems right and then putting the work into defending - and hopefully our attacking game can open them up," Woodward said.
The team has spent the week trying to cast off last weekend's disappointment.
"We've just got to get back on the horse and play as well as we can - we know we're not far away from nailing a good side and hopefully it'll be this week," he added.
Northland have made two changes from the side that started against Wellington - one of them an enforced change - after Auckland recalled loan player Bryce Heem earlier in the week. The Grammar-Carlton import started the campaign on the bench but showed himself to be a good fit for the Taniwha, starting the following four matches and scoring one try in the process.
Woodward is sorry to see him go. "It was a little disappointing for us, they stated on their request that Bryce was called in to cover an injury although we think it's more likely to be a form thing. But at the end of the day he was only a loan player so we've accepted it."
Iwi Hauraki will replace Heem on the wing, with Mateo Malupo moving on to the bench after impressing with two tries for the Northland Development side last week. Rene Ranger will start on the other wing with Jared Payne at centre and Lachie Munro at fullback.
The other change sees Tim Dow starting at hooker for the first time this season. Woodward said that regular starting hooker Mikaele Tuu'u had struggled with his lineout throws in recent matches and it was a good opportunity to give Dow a chance - and Tuu'u a chance to take stock.
Northland: 1 Matt Wallis, 2 Tim Dow, 3 Bronson Murray, 4 Pat O'Connor, 5 Mark Burman, 6 Dean Budd, 7 Dan Pryor, 8 Cameron Eyre, 9 Rhyan Caine, 10 David Holwell, 11 Iwi Hauraki, 12 Aaron Bancroft, 13 Jared Payne (c), 14 Rene Ranger, 15 Lachie Munro. Reserves: 16 Mikaele Tuu'u, 17 Ross Wright, 18 Roy Griffin, 19 Cam Goodhue, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Aden Dewes, 22 Mateo Malupo.