Taniwha fullback Matty Wright makes a break during the round-one Mitre 10 Cup match against North Harbour at QBE Stadium on Thursday night. Photo / Getty Images
Taniwha fullback Matty Wright makes a break during the round-one Mitre 10 Cup match against North Harbour at QBE Stadium on Thursday night. Photo / Getty Images
Northland put on a massive defensive effort but didn't have much opportunity to attack in a solitary-point loss to North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup opener in Albany.
Much of the 21-20 defeat on Thursday was as a direct result of the Taniwha having to play virtually all of the first and most of the second spell in their own half, forcing the team to repel the heavy artillery from Harbour off set-piece play.
Rene Ranger about to catch the ball in the game against North Harbour. Photo / Getty Images
Ross Wright, Tom Robinson, and Kara Pryor, in particular, featured prominently in the tackling and aggression and one couldn't help but admire the way they went about their work for prolonged periods of play without wilting under pressure.
That, coupled with poor discipline, meant the Taniwha conceded penalties in the wrong end of the field and it was back to more defending phase after phase.
Half Jono Kitto, of Northland, is tackled during the close match against North Harbour.
What will also hurt the visitors was their inability to close out the match with a two-point advantage in the last quarter but, with the number of penalties conceded stacked heavily against them, it was only a matter of time before referee Nick Bryant blew the whistle next.
Northland brought more physicality and defensive bite to QBE Stadium and the hosts were at the receiving end of some big hits, notably prop Ross Wright's thumping tackle on Bryn Gatland in the first half.
a better territorial game by Northland, die-hard Taniwha fans would have wondered how utterly semi-miraculous, part-ridiculous it was that North Harbour came away with a win.
Rene Ranger about to catch the ball in the game against North Harbour. Photo / Getty Images
A wobbly old start for Gatland, thumping a kick on the dead ball line and missing a penalty early in the match. But he banged the kick that mattered, from 46m, with just five minutes to go after Northland centre Blake Hohaia was penalised for not rolling away in a ruck.
Aside from the winning penalty, what was maybe of concern to North Harbour was the lack of cohesion at times, that they were missing a little composure, or mental sharpness that meant they did not finish the chances they had.
It was Northland that struck first. Rene Ranger struck just when Northland defenders needed some pressure off their aching bodies.
Debutant No 10 Jack Debreczeni managed to offload to the bullocking wing from Wellsford who darted down field with both outside centre Tamati Tua and Robinson running alongside him in support play.
Ranger stepped inside and set up Robinson for a try under the posts in the 8th minute.
The try preceded a North Harbour attack that resulted in lock Nee-Nee Ben throwing a pass to Northland wing Jordan Hyland before Ranger broke loose.
The hosts' best chance came when fullback Shaun Stevenson lobbed a pass from the blindside to centre James Dargaville but he knocked the ball on with the try line at his mercy.
But it wasn't long before Dillon Hunt scored in the corner after fielding a pass from Gatland when the Northland defence was stretched.
The Taniwha started the second spell strongly with Robinson ripping the ball from North Harbour No 8 Murphy Taramai straight after kick-off and Debreczeni kicking a penalty shortly after.
North Harbour scored its second try after Stevenson sliced through Wright and Hyland and fed the ball to Tevita Li who managed to score in the corner despite a desperate tackle by Northland halfback Sam Nock.
His North Harbour counterpart, Bryn Hall, landed a sideline conversation as Gatland had left the field with a head knock.
Nock was substituted by Hikurangi's Jono Kitto who not only marshalled his players well on debut but also scored a brilliant try after scooping a ruck ball and shrugging off two tacklers to dot down under the posts.
Northland head coach Derren Witcombe said it was disappointing to lose but he was pleased with the effort, especially on defence. Poor discipline and mistakes on attack let the side down, he said.
Northland's next ITM Cup game is against Auckland, at Okara Park, Whangārei on August 26.
