Harbour into semis

North Harbour 37 Taranaki 3

North Harbour have qualified for the NPC playoffs after eventually transforming last night from ugly duckling into less ugly swan.

It seems strange to be quibbling when the scoreboard was so emphatic, but Harbour were patchy and unconvincing for long periods.

Their forwards seemed a little subdued and were a touch clumsy.

As a consequence, the NPC's best midfield barely got a crack at the title.

The much talked about Anthony Tuitavake didn't get his eager mitts on the pill until half an hour had passed and it took until almost 60 minutes before we caught sight of his bruising fend and pace off the mark.

But the truth is that no one in Albany gave two hoots that Harbour won ugly.

Given the province's quite uncanny knack of reaching into the jaws of victory and plucking out defeat, style comes a distant second to result.

Getting the job done was the single objective of last night's mission for the simple reason that a win got Harbour's to their semi-finals home.

They qualified by virtue of their win over Wellington and are sure of a place in the top four.

By the final quarter, they were at last getting some width and using the running talents of Tuitavake and Viliame Waqaseduadua.

The Fijian wing's try that pushed Harbour out of sight midway through the second half was the pick of the game, with the ball being transferred at pace and runners coming on straight.

It didn't rate as the best moment of the game, though.

That was a toss up between the punch thrown by Taranaki centre Matt Harvey and the sight of Hurricanes team-mates Joe Ward (Harbour) and Andrew Hore (Taranaki) chatting and joking back to the sin bin.

The two hookers had a quite tasty set-to but neither was holding a grudge.

One can only wonder whether it is a regular thing for them to knock lumps out of each other, then kiss and make up without any tears being shed.

As for Harvey, it certainly looked like he has thrown a punch before. Either that or he's got a natural flair for the art.

What will be bothering Harbour coach Allan Pollock the most is the way his side started.

It was all a bit of a struggle for Harbour in the first 20 minutes.

Their forwards were huffing and puffing but this Taranaki pack takes a fair bit of puff before it falls down.

They certainly weren't going to fall on their knees when the Harbour backs insisted on kicking the ball hopefully into space - only to see it gratefully scooped into amber and black arms time and time again.

No wonder Pollock could be heard screaming: "Hold onto the ball" into his head-set.

Pollock's restraint in not inserting a few choice expletives was admirable as the message was having real bother taking residence between the ears of his troops.

And it was with good reason that the Harbour coach laboured his point.

His side have the most effective midfield in the game and when Luke McAlister bursts onto the ball tight to the traffic he nearly always makes something happen.

He's a wondrous combination of dancing feet, BG Williams-type thighs and juggler's hands.

Rua Tipoki offers much the same - a bit more twinkly on the toes, lighter on the thighs. Neither of them can do much, though, without the ball.

Both players should have had a word in Nick Williams' ear, telling him to spend a little more time at the coalface. Williams is a terrific prospect and can certainly cause damage with the ball in hand.

But he too often got in the way of the midfield of last night and disrupted the fluency.

The foundation stone of Harbour was once again a solid scrummaging effort and a big game from lock Greg Rawlinson.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY