Filipo Nakosi eludes the grasp of Taranaki captain Charlie Ngatai during Northland's 50-7 round four loss.
Northland 7
Taranaki 50
Taniwha co-captain Dan Pryor probably wasn't planning on playing 83 minutes in his first match back for Northland since dislocating an elbow during the Super Rugby season.
He probably wasn't planning on his side going down 50-7 to a resurgent Taranaki outfit either.
One thing he is sure of, though, is that Northland's inability to execute at scrums and lineouts is becoming a tiresome problem as the middle of the ITM Cup season draws near.
"There was no real turning point, it was just the scrums and the lineouts," Pryor said of Taranaki's ability to milk rewards from the Taniwha faux pas around the set piece.
After a four-month stint on the sideline, Pryor looked to be back to his best yesterday.
However, the 27-year-old showed frustration as Northland's key pillars continue to crumble.
"We couldn't even win our lineouts and if you don't have the ball you don't win the game. We did win some but it was just a couple, and a couple of times in 80 minutes is not going to win you games so we'll have to look at that if we want to make a dent on this competition."
A force on defence initially, Northland's line speed - led by Pryor and his younger brother Kara - was successful in shutting down Taranaki playmaker Marty McKenzie, as well as captain Charlie Ngatai and Kurt Baker.
Spilling the pill on several occasions, Taranaki showed hesitation in the early stages.
Despite this, a few too many slipped tackles saw the Taniwha strumming the tune of Max Merritt and The Meteors' Slipping Away as Taranaki stampeded ahead to their bonus point win in the latter stages.
"I feel like we made 120 tackles each. I probably missed more than I made," Pryor said.
"It wasn't a good day in the office, but that's footy and I've got to go work on my game and comeback."
Showing some hints of promise, Northland fullback Mathew Wright showed consistency at the back, as did No11 Filipo Nakosi - a player earning his first start of the season after scoring a hat-trick for the Northland Development team two weekends ago.
Also radiating talent, Sam Nock at halfback continued to own the No9 jersey and bring an increased element of maturity into his game.
With a trip to the Manawatu next weekend, Northland could be in sight of their first win of the season.
Along for the ride, Pryor should be a clear fixture in Northland's remaining season fixtures if he can stay on top of injury.
"I struggled a bit aye, especially having to play 80 minutes first game back but a few of the boys went down so it's just how it is," he said.
"It's just getting used to it all again, it's been four months."
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