Wobbly forward work resurfaces

North Harbour 32 Southland 26

North Harbour were less than convincing but still managed five competition points with their NPC win over Southland.

Harbour coach Wayne Shelford said his team were disappointing in their final game before next weekend's playoffs, where they will host Otago at Albany on Saturday night.

"I'm happy with the win, but I'm not happy with the performance. Not a great dress rehearsal for a semifinal," Shelford said.

"The whole of the front eight didn't go that well; they weren't allowed to. The Southland boys gave them a bit of a ding-dong up front and overshadowed them by far - scrums, lineouts, everything."

A withering burst of scoring from the fleet-footed Harbour backs in the first half proved the difference between the teams.

Harbour centre Rico Gear was the catalyst as the visitors ran in three tries in 10 minutes to leave Southland trailing 24-15 at halftime.

Gear and left wing Rodd Penney scored two tries each in the first spell as Southland struggled to quell the counter-attacking skills of the Harbour backline.

Southland kept the ball in the forwards more in the second half and gradually pulled back the deficit, allowing Harbour a solitary try to Gear, who bagged three for the match.

Southland left wing Hayden Martine snuck over from a blindside ruck with four minutes left to give Southland a real chance of victory.

The home team hammered away at Harbour's line as the clock ticked down, but were eventually denied by some stern defence.

The bonus point helped Southland, but the best news came from Eden Park yesterday, when Auckland's crushing win over Counties Manukau ensured Southland's survival in the first division.

- NZPA