Rugby: Northland down BOP in see-saw clash

Northland held off a desperate Bay of Plenty to win a see-sawing national provincial championship rugby match 36-24 in Whangarei tonight.

The win gave veteran first five-eighth David Holwell the perfect end to a 16-year provincial rugby career, which he capped off by scoring Northland's first try of the match after 20 minutes.

Bay of Plenty went into the match lying sixth on the table, and needing a bonus-try win to give themselves the best chance of a semifinals berth.

However, Northland - out of the running for playoff honours in 10th place - played the spoilers to perfection to shut down Bay of Plenty's top-four hopes.

Northland opened the scoring in the first minute through a Lachie Munro penalty, and maintained it in a scrappy first 15 minutes as both teams struggled to build continuity.

Bay of Plenty hit the front courtesy of an intercept try to halfback Taniela Moa, who latched onto Northland second five-eighth Aaron Bancroft's telegraphed pass to stroll 40 metres to touch down.

Mike Delany added the extras, but the home team hit back almost immediately as Holwell busted through the tackles of John Pareanga and Tanerau Latimer for the 25th try of an illustrious NPC career.

Munro was equally accurate with the boot, and Northland regained the lead at 10-7 only to see Bay of Plenty reply with a well-worked try on the blind side to prop Josh Hohneck.

But the tit-for-tat scoring continued, and just on the half-hour mark Bancroft touched down after Northland capitalised on good field position with some slick work off the top of an attacking lineout.

Although Bay of Plenty battered the Northland line in the closing minutes of the first half, some stout defence saw the home team go into the break with a narrow 17-14 lead.

While the visitors regained the lead early after the restart with a try to replacement second five-eighth Grant McQuoid - and a conversion to multi-talented captain Colin Bourke - Northland bounced back with tries to flanker Dean Budd and halfback Rhyan Caine to lead 31-21 with 20 minutes remaining.

Bourke narrowed the gap to seven with a well-struck penalty, and Bay of Plenty looked ready to square the scores at 70 minutes when Moa broke free on an intercept, only to find Northland fullback Jared Payne tracking back to shut down the movement and save the try.

The hard-earned win was finally secured with less than five minutes to go, when winger Simon Munro finished off another sweeping Northland to touch down in the corner.

- NZPA