League: Orcas too good for Swords on TV debut

Peter Thorley rounds up league news.

The Northern Swords made the most of their television debut for the 2013 season by knocking the Wellington Orcas off their stride but they lacked a bit of luck at Mt Smart Stadium on Monday night.

The Swords didn't win but they were the better team for much of the game and dominated possession, forcing the Orcas to make mistakes and defend for long periods.

In the end the capital team ran out easy 38-14 winners but the score did not reflect the real story of the game.

Rugby League Northland general manager Alex Smits said he was proud of the way the team played.

"They played like a real football team down there and they might have come away with a closer score - and perhaps even a result - but for a couple of very poor refereeing decisions," he said.

Smits said poor decisions tend to level up during a game but the Swords wore a couple of howlers at pivotal times from referee Dwayne Gibbs - who was let down on both occasions by his touch judges.

"They had a couple of tries off forward passes and we had one disallowed so just after halftime the scores might have been level and I wonder what would have happened then," Smits asked.

Although the Orcas were first to score through centre Bernard Gregorious, the Swords took the lead shortly after when Jarom Wihongi-Henare's try was converted by fullback Corey Naera, giving them a 6-4 lead.

With the Orcas' superior fitness beginning to show toward the end of the first half and the Swords struggling to get out of their half, Wellington came back but the damage may have been limited if Gibbs had called a pass that travelled at least four metres forward, which lead to a try. The error saw the Swords 6-22 behind at halftime but with a second try to Wihongi-Henare, just after the break, they were back in the match - until the second blatant forward pass was missed - and the Orcas were able to re-establish their lead.

The Swords continued to defend well in patches. They added one more try through Te Tuhi Tipene but eventually the Orcas found the space their speedy backs needed and scored three further tries to blow out the score.

Northern Swords 14 (J Wihongi-Henare (2), T Tipene tries; C Naera goal) Wellington Orcas 38 (B Gregorious (3), A Utanga, E Aloese (2), R Lesoa tries; R McCormack 5 goals).