Rugby: Harbour forward effort ensures victory

By Chris Rattue

North Harbour may claim they have a pack that won't intimidate, but they dealt to Counties Manukau at North Harbour Stadium last night.

North Harbour won the NPC warm-up match 43-14, turning on an impressive second half display after both sides bumbled their way through the first spell.

Unfortunately for Counties Manukau, they could not get rid of the first half horrors, and proceeded to turn the ball over frequently throughout.

North Harbour dominated the scrums and the driving work in the forwards which allowed their classy backline to cut loose in the second half, with fullback Glenn Davis running in four tries.

North Harbour led 12-7 at the break and rattled on tries to flanker Blair Urlich, number eight Ron Cribb and Davis in the third quarter to put the Steelers out of the game.

Cribb's try was the best of the match, with centre Glen Osborne cutting down the right hand side then flinging a long pass inside, where the hard running Cribb hauled the ball in and charged over the line.

Cribb could have had another shortly afterwards, when Urlich busted through three Steelers tacklers and presented the ball to Cribb near the line, but the number eight spilled it.

Counties Manukau scored their second and final try in the 69th minute through centre Josh Levi, who made a number of strong breaks although he had trouble retaining the ball.

But the Steelers relied too heavily on their number eight Koula Tukino to set up their attacks, and the homeside continued to dominate with Davis finishing the match with two late tries.

The good news for North Harbour was the way their scrum, which included a tight five with just one NPC match between them, had the advantage despite a free interchange of props, mainly due to Les Bone's frequent visits to the blood bin.

Cribb became an increasingly dominant force in the match and the backs took full advantage, despite losing captain Frano Botica to injury early on.

And in the end the margin of the match could well have been wider with Botica's replacement Nash Jack landing just two goals from his six attempts.

Both sides had a number of players away on representative duty, and as with many of the NPC sides the make-up of the All Blacks and other World Cup squads could have a large effect on their fortunes once the NPC starts.

But North Harbour scored a definite psychological advantage over their near neighbours last night.

North Harbour won the Colts game 27-5, and Counties Manukau the battle between the second XVs by 34-18.

North Harbour 43 (G. Davis 4, P. Griffin, B. Urlich, R. Cribb tries, N. Jack 2, F. Botica, G. Osborne cons), Counties Manukau 14 (B. Becroft, J. Levi tries, L. Crichton 2 con). Halftime: 12-7.