Elrick's miss takes gloss off Tui show

He might not be good enough for the Blues but North Harbour coach Allan Pollock wouldn't swap centre Anthony Tuitavake - or Rua Tipoki - for all the riches over the bridge.

Tuitavake was the outstanding figure in Harbour's draw with NPC champions Canterbury, scoring twice in a performance that should have set Harbour up for a comfortable victory. Instead, poor goalkicking and bad luck allowed Canterbury to sneak two points for a draw.

Harbour blew a chance to inflict the first NPC loss on Canterbury for close to a year as first Tusi Pisi and then John Elrick got the horrors with the boot.

Elrick could have won the game in the final minute but hit the post from a handy angle after previously missing a sitter of a conversion following a Tuitavake try.

"They're a great combination, these two," Pollock said of his centres. "To an outsider it might look like they're defying the conventional wisdom that you need a stepper and a straight runner in midfield.

"But they've got such a wide and varied skill-set and work so well together. They're both a pleasure to work with."

Tipoki was even more effusive. "I thought Anthony was outstanding."

Captain Tipoki had the winning of the game in his hands but couldn't force the ball after Elrick's 80th-minute kick cannoned off the upright and bounced loose.

"It's really gutting, especially to draw like that. Thinking back to Auckland [round one] it didn't hurt so much because we got outplayed big time. Tonight we had a real chance to win but we let it slip."

Pollock and co won't be pointing fingers at the kickers, though. "You've got to feel for your goalkickers; they're either heroes or villains. The first thing we've got to do is make sure that John keeps his head up."

The other errant kicker, Pisi, looks like he will be out for some time with a hamstring tear. When asked if he felt it was two points gained or lost, Pollock was unequivocal: "A couple that slipped away. We set ourselves the goal to enter every game seeking five points."

What North Harbour did show was that they are genuine semifinal prospects. Few would argue they were the better team on the park.

Pollock has instilled in his team a belief that has been missing in the past. Add to that some improved decision-making and nobody will enjoy the prospect of meeting them.

Canterbury gave what would once have been considered a most un-Canterbury-like performance but coach Aussie McLean said their inconsistency had blighted every game this year. "We've bumbled through so far," he bemoaned. "We need a good passage of 20 minutes and then we'll be away."

They weren't helped by the late withdrawal of captain Reuben Thorne, rated only a 50-50 prospect for next week.

The other point of interest from the match is the ridiculous points situation where both teams get two points for a draw, the same amount you can get if you lose a tight match and score four tries.

North Harbour 23

(T. Harding A. Tuitavake 2 tries, T. Pisi 2 pens, con)

Canterbury 23

(K. O'Neill C. Laulala tries, B. Blair 3 pens, 2 cons).

Halftime: 14-11 Canterbury.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY