CLUB RUGBY - Mountain-goat antics at Moerewa

When startled, Himalayan tahr goats flee with confidence, speeding sure-footedly across the uneven terrain of their rocky, mountainous habitat.
But when competing for certain "privileges", there is no running. Two billies will lock horns to try to throw the other off balance.
Something similar occurred at Moerewa's Simson Park.
When Moerewa and Kerikeri locked horns on Saturday, one was trying to disrupt the balance, and the other to keep it.
With United Kawakawa away at the home of cellar-dwellers Otiria and the five-points virtually guaranteed - a loss for Moerewa would have put them 10 points adrift of the Bay competition leaders. And while Moerewa were desperate to get back in the running, Kerikeri, only a point behind United Kawakawa on the table, were more than eager to keep the status quo.
And the clash of horns did occur for a while before a Moerewa avalanche.
The trouble with tahr, when compared to hard-core fighting billies, is that the battle is pretty much half-hearted. They may have a brief encounter, a scuffle or two, then one will slink away to fight another day - which is exactly what Kerikeri did. They only had their heart in it for a half.
The 5-nil halftime Moerewa lead was generous.
Moerewa's first-five Anthony George opened the scoring at the 25-minute mark with a solo effort.
His angled run and dummies left the Kerikeri backs without a clue, and he cut through untouched.
Before that, Kerikeri had been doing well in defence, dangerous at times with their backs and rucks and even mauls weren't far off. But they forgot all about crossing their tees.
The visitors were awarded a penalty out in front but when word went back to the bench for a kicking tee no hive of activity could produce the plastic.
The Ben Cox drop-goal pushed wide, and was far enough off the mark to flag any future attempts.
A penalty in a similar position five minutes later again resulted in a call for a tee, but when none came and the rules got in the way of heeling a mound, the kick went to the corner.
Kerikeri's woes compounded when they lost the subsequent lineout - one of many on their own throw after key lock Simon Bayliss left the field with a dislocated shoulder.
If you were to give honours for sheer guts, you'd have given Kerikeri the nod for the first half despite the scoreline.
They absorbed pressure, and a 6-5 score had they been able to kick at goal would have been a fair price paid by a Moerewa side with a case of the dropsies.
"We pushed the passes. That was the message at halftime, cut out the mistakes," said Moerewa co-coach Laurie Nankivell.
The stern talk resulted in No8 Chic Prime grabbing hold of the reins and dictating terms.
He, along with lock Jimmy Anderson, Edward Peita and Owen Pihema, ran the pack and put a price on the pill, virtually leaving the Kerikeri backline redundant for the second half.
While Moerewa picked up intensity, Kerikeri's fell off.
Prime scored early in the spell after some industry by his pack. And when gutsy halfback Damien Tana fed Peita to take a 17-0 lead, Kerikeri had decided the mountain wasn't big enough for two.
So they left.
Moerewa's second-five Peter Watene then showed too much gas to get the bonus point before Anderson proved there's some pace in the lower numbers too.
Kerikeri had gone close when Chris Cleveland produced some magic to go with his strong scrummaging, coming up just short of the line.
Moerewa stole possession, and spun it along their tryline to the right. With no space it went quickly left and Anderson burned off the cover defence over 60m, then flicked it to the inside for Prime's second, 29-0.
George added the icing just before the whistle when he chipped and regathered for 34-0.
"We were in it, but we lacked direction in that second half," said Kerikeri coach Chubb Komene.
He said his team was shell-shocked at Moerewa's intensity after the break and he was disappointed they didn't respond.
"They know what they need to do next time. I need 80 [minutes]," he said.
In other matches, United Kawakawa were too strong for Otiria in a 55-0 drubbing. Kaeo limped away with a long injury list when going down to Ohaeawai 32-7, and there was an arm wrestle between Kaikohe/Okaihau and South Hokianga, with Kaikohe getting the bragging rights 38-31.