Rugby: Scoreboard error confuses sides

By Chris Rattue

North Harbour and Waikato played out the final stages of their NPC clash at Albany in a state of semi-confusion because of an errant scoreboard.

North Harbour captain Frano Botica kicked a 43m penalty five minutes from fulltime to snare his side an 18-all draw in the opening round at North Harbour Stadium.

Eight minutes earlier, Matthew Cooper's sideline penalty had given Waikato an 18-15 lead but it showed up as 19-15 on the scoreboard, and the wrong Waikato score remained until the end, even after Botica's score-levelling penalty.

Harbour coach Wayne Shelford said that had confused his side's approach in the final crucial stages of the match.

"North Harbour needs a kick up the backside for not getting the scoreboard right," said Shelford.

Botica said that in the heat of the battle, it was easy for players to become confused over scorelines.

"In the pressure of the situation ... half the team thought we were losing - they thought it was 19-18 while the other half knew it was 18-all."

Waikato coach Kiwi Searancke played down the situation although he admitted: "There was a bit of confusion until Paddy [O'Brien, the referee] actually told us the score."

But his captain Deon Muir admitted it affected their tactics, saying they had considered slowing the match down to hang on to a one point lead they didn't actually have.

"For a while there we were just going to scrum it until the end until we realised it was a draw," said Muir.

It made for a bizarre end to a game of equal parts skill and ineptitude.

Cooper kicked an early penalty before Harbour No 8 Ron Cribb featured twice in his side's first try, making the initial half break from a lineout and then delivering a perfect short pass to fullback Glenn Davis who screamed through a gap for the first of his two tries.

Then came referee Paddy O'Brien's first key decision, when he awarded Waikato a penalty try as they steamrolled the North Harbour scrum back over their own try line.

The Harbour scrum appeared to go down, and Cribb and halfback Mark Robinson also came around trying to get at the ball before they were entitled to do so.

O'Brien said: "You could take your pick on which rule I used. The two players came around the side at about the same time as the scrum went down."

Shelford disagreed: "He said we collapsed it. That's one person's interpretation and I don't think it was a penalty try."

Shelford also claimed the referee had allowed the Waikato loose forwards to detach from scrums earlier than his own players during the game.

Waikato took a 15-5 lead early in the second half when they produced a brilliant forward drive which took prop David Briggs over the line.

But North Harbour cut the lead back to 12-15 through an attack initiated by their backs, with Cribb and Matua Parkinson then feeding the ball to Davis on the right flank, although it was a touch-and-go decision on whether the fullback got the ball down before taking out the corner pole.

Then came a Botica penalty, then Cooper's goal and the final 13 minutes when not all the players were clear on the score.

Botica's match-saving penalty came after O'Brien caught replacement Waikato lock Chresten Davis stamping on the legs of an opponent.

"It was a clear infringement well away from the ball. I might have sent him to the bin if it had been a dirty game, "said O'Brien.

The final stages were dominated by an extended game of kick-force back, with both sides seemingly more worried about making mistakes inside their own territory, than taking any risks to win.

Botica said his side were still behind the best teams when it came to turning good positions into points, while Shelford believed they had been too rushed at times.

"You've got to do things quickly but you've got to be patient as well," said Shelford.

Waikato now face a powerful Ranfurly Shield challenge from Counties-Manukau.

Their backline did not always function as it should, and even some of the basic forward work was lacking. Twice in the final stages Waikato lost their own lineout possessions, once when they could have set up a drop goal attempt and again in their own half when Ian Jones and his supports completely outwitted them.

Searancke still hopes to have All Black Royce Willis for Saturday's second round match, against a Counties-Manukau side trying to lift the Ranfurly Shield for the first time.