Northland Taniwha earn convincing win over Manawatū Turbos

Rivez Reihana was the man of the match.

The Northland Taniwha went into overdrive and powered their way to victory over the Manawatū Turbos at Semenoff Stadium in Whangārei on Saturday, as the visitors struggled to gain traction in the wet weather.

Hurting from their first-round loss to Canterbury, the Taniwha got the job done with a 35-18 bonus point win in the Bunnings Warehouse NPC clash in front of a sparse turnout in the side’s first home game on Saturday.

In what was a perfect a way to celebrate Club Day, the Taniwha gave valuable game time to promising youngsters hewn from Northland’s hinterland. Debutant Nathan Salmon must have celebrated long into the night after receiving an inside pass from centre Tevita Latu and beating the Manawatū defence on the outside to get the bonus point try in the corner.

While there were scenes of delirium in the Taniwha camp, there was no such celebration for the Northland Kauri, who lost to a strong Bay of Plenty side 12-26 in the Farah Palmer Cup.

Taniwha players were able to sustain more attack off the back of their kicking game and were able to capitalise off the back of Manawatū’s mounting handling errors.

Take a bow Rivez Reihana. The Northland first five’s astute kicking and line breaks got half the job done in slippery conditions as the Turbos struggled to pin the Taniwha in their own half in the crucial last quarter.

Reihana brought all his Super Rugby experience and tactical nous to the game and was clearly the man-of-the-match.

For Manawatū, buttery hands in crucial areas of the field and a brain fade by skipper and one-test All Black Brett Cameron (who kicked the ball dead from inside Northland’s 22 deep into the game) summed up a frustrating afternoon for the side.

At half time, Manawatū had made 10 handling errors to Northland’s four and conceded seven penalties to Taniwha’s two.

“It’s really the simple things done well. If we can hold on to the ball better and out discipline is better, that will go a long way,” Cameron reportedly said post-match.

Having got themselves in good positions, the Turbos failed to build enough pressure for long enough to rattle the hosts.

Manawatū came to Whangārei trying to avoid a sixth straight loss. Their last win was against Auckland at Eden Park a year ago.

They had sparks of brilliance from halfback Jordi Viljoen and centre James Tofa in particular but Northland’s defence held up well for the most part.

Northland’s foray into the opposition 22 almost always paid dividends and the team had a greater sense about how it wanted to play.

Simon Parker’s try under the posts was a case in point. From a tap and go, Liam Hallam-Eames with his back to the post offloaded to a charging Parker who crashed straight through the defence for the try. It was a simple, well-executed move and straight off the training pitch.

Rory Woods is a hardnut who loves the graft and grind of top-flight rugby, while the midfield partnership of Latu and Corey Evans is worth persevering with.

Northland will be back on the road to take on the Magpies in Napier on Friday night.