Counties prove far too strong

The Northern Swords premier side got their first taste of New Zealand Rugby League's National Competition when they went up against a big, fast and hard-hitting Counties Manukau side at Lindvart Park in Kaikohe.
After a bye last weekend, the Swords faced their first challenge, and perhaps their biggest challenge of the competition. Counties Manukau are a team laden with talented footballers including Auckland Player of the Year James Blackwell, and eight members of the Fox Memorial winning Otahuhu team.
The visitors cut the Swords apart, thrashing them 86-10, which was not entirely unexpected as the Northern side was making their comeback to representative football after three years away from the scene.
Swords premiers coach Revell Neal was philosophical about the loss.
"Counties Manukau are the team to beat in this competition and we had them first up, and now we know where the bar is and what we have to do to reach it," he said. The Swords kicked off full of pride sporting their new strip and used the ball well, with second rower Tumai Kepa making some powerful runs towards the tryline.

This did not last long however, as soon as Counties Manukau had possession, they looked dangerous. They were quick off the play of ball, their draw and pass was superb, they made a lot of metres during their sets as they drove forward and their defence was measured, forcing the Swords to run sideways when they tried to run the ball up.
Winger Taqele Naiyaravoro started the Counties try fest, cruising over the line after the Swords had lost structure in their defensive line early in the game, leaving gaps wide open.
At times, the Swords used up to five players to tackle the Counties ball carrier, leaving gaping holes for Counties to  score some soft tries. By halftime, Counties were out to a commanding 0-42 lead, with both their fullback Blackwell and hooker Darin Kingi nabbing two a piece, along with Roman Hifo and Tony Tuia. The kicking boot of lock forward Willie Heta was nearly 100 per cent - he made 13 from 15 attempts at goal throughout the match.
One positive for the Swords was they showed a lot of heart to dig deep and keep going, despite lacking the fitness needed to halt their opposition on attack. The second half opened with a promising phase of play - Kepa sent the ball out wide to the left wing, where Innocent Tuimavave Mau was waiting and ran over the Swords first try, which went unconverted.
Counties continued their  rampage, with eight more tries  in the second 40, however the Swords never stopped trying despite their fatigue. The game was stopped briefly when Naiyaravoro was helped off the paddock with a suspected broken ankle. Not long after the restart, William Wiki made a break up the middle before offloading to standoff Kyle Hool. Hool passed to the experienced Wiki Record who then slipped Tuimavave-Mau the ball to complete a great
team try. Skipper Anaru Thompson converted the try with just seven minutes left to play.
 
 Next week, the Northern Swords face Wellington Orcas - who pulled off an upset on Saturday by beating Auckland - in their first away game at Porirua Stadium.
Meanwhile, the 15s kicked off yesterday's proceedings at Lindvart Park.
They also lost their match  30-4, but coach Jim Larkin was pleased with the potential he saw in his young team. "We need to do the little things properly - on defence and finishing off the line - and we will be a good team in this competition," he said.
The 17s struggled against a fast Counties Manukau team, going down  98-0 and they will be looking for an improved effort against Wellington next weekend.
Northern Swords Premiers 10 (I Tuimavave 2 tries, Anaru Thompson con) Counties Manukau Premiers 86 (J Blackwell 4, Darin Kingi 3, T Naiyaravoro 2, S Waetford, M Lemalu, T Tuia, B King, R Hifo, A Howard tries, W Heta 13 con). HT 0-42.
Northern Swords 17s 0 Counties Manukau 98 (R Sheck, P Pheu, N Alaimalo, E Malu, S Marsters, S Heta 2, V Lolohea, R Leavai, A Apulu, M Atera, J Paulo, H Tuha tries, Malu 10, V Ilahefaiva 2 con). HT 0-38.
Northern Swords 15s 4 (B Palmer try) Counties Manukau 30 (R Rennie, L Feagaiga 2, M Uhatate, H Brown tries, Feagaiga 3 con). HT 4-14.