Tasman Mako maul Northland Taniwha in Nelson

Matt Matich scored one of two tries for Northland in the team's heavy loss to Tasman this afternoon. Photo / Michael Cunningham

This was undoubtedly Northland's worst performance this Bunnings Warehouse NPC season, leaking 52 points against in-form Tasman in Nelson yesterday.

Starved of possession and territory for the most part, the hosts had too much firepower for Northland to contain, winning 52-17.

No player did more damage than the dynamic Mako midfield duo Alex Nankivell and Levi Aumua.

Down21-3 at half-time, Northland enjoyed a brief moment of hard running rugby and bagged two well-worked tries but poor defence and a high penalty count cost the side dearly.

Tasman's three tries in the first half all came off the back of scrums and it was classic training ground stuff executed to perfection on game day.

Despite missing their All Blacks stars Leicester Fainga'anuku, Tyrel Lomax, David Havili, Sevu Reece, Finlay Christie, Will Jordan and Shannon Frizell, others and in particular Willie Havili executed their kicks beautifully and positioned themselves in the right areas of the field.

Northland were forced to defend for prolonged periods of play inside their own half and by the 27th minute of play, the Taniwha had missed 13 tackles to Tasman's two.

Before today's match, Tasman had won nine of their 12 games against Northland and did not look like losing at Trafalgar Park on a beautiful day.

For Northland, they must not only win their remaining games against Bay of Plenty and Manawatu but also hope for other results to go their way.

To add to their woes, the Taniwha have a four-day turnaround before facing the Steamers in Tauranga on Wednesday.