Rugby: Hawkins eyes Ranfurly challenge

Dan Hawkins. Photo/ John Stone

Elusive on attack, with flair and a good kicking game to boot, Dan Hawkins has been Northland's perennial first-five eighths for the past few seasons.

Therefore, when he steps on to the hallowed turf of Napier's McLean Park on Sunday in a bid to bring the Ranfurly Shield back to Northland, after its notable absence, he'll be following in the steps of several great pivots to have played before him.

"To me, David Holwell was a bit of a legend and the Goings and that. I definitely wouldn't put myself at that level, I'm just happy to have the jersey and it's an honour to be wearing one," 24-year-old Hawkins said.

Playing just 20 games for Northland, Hawkins has a while to go if he is to match Joe Morgan's record of 165 matches for the province - the last of which was in 1981, when Morgan was 36.

Despite this, the Taniwha have had a good run of success with Hawkins at the helm in recent years, including a third-placed finish in last year's ITM Cup Championship, albeit losing their semifinal by the narrowest of margins.

Stopped dead in their tracks by Hawke's Bay in that match, Hawkins is adamant the fresh-faced Taniwha side - which boasts eight debutants - can turn the tables if they play to their strengths.

"We plan to go there and bring back that Shield to Whangarei and take it up North then down to Kaiwaka and what not - that's the plan anyway, but we've got to do the job first," Hawkins said.

"I think, if we do all right, they won't be able to keep up and, if we do our roles right, I think we'll be able to spread it and attack them."

Gaining valuable game-time in Northland's pre-season hit-out against Waikato last week, Hawkins found a similar foe to his Hawke's Bay nemesis, Ihaia West, in the form of Waikato and Chiefs first-five Damian McKenzie.

Former Northland second-five Joe Morgan played through many Ranfurly Shield matches on the way to his 165th cap in 1981. Photo/ Supplied

With West being a key player for Northland to shut down, Hawkins said the hard work had been done at training to emulate scenarios for game day.

"Ihaia and those guys are great players, if you give them a sniff, they've got all the tricks in the book," he said.

"I've played him quite a few times now and he plays on instinct but there are opportunities for us to use against him. Me, Kara Pryor and Kurt Davies have been working hard on our connection down that inside channel. We've done it before versus him so we've just got to keep paying attention."

Northland: Howard Sililoto, Matt Moulds, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Josh Goodhue, Michael Stolberg, Shane Neville, Kara Pryor, Taniela Manu, Kurt Davies, Dan Hawkins, Jone Macilai, Jordan Hyland, Dave Thomas, Waisea Lawebuka, Mathew Wright. Reserves: Jordan Olsen, Ross Wright, Matt Talaese, Sean Sweetman, Jaycob Matiu, Sam Nock, Troy Gilbert, Filipo Nakosi.