League: Falcons put opposition to the sword

The Northern Swords coaching staff knew it wasn't going to be easy when the "highly motivated" Akarana Falcons arrived in Kaitaia.

Premier coach Joe Rau said the three Auckland teams had a big point to prove after losing their opening round matches to Counties-Manukau and the Swords bore the brunt of that backlash on Sunday at Arnold Rae Park.

"We had identified how much they would want to win and sure enough they gave us a reminder of their power, pace and intensity as they gave us a bit of a hiding," he said.

The premier side were beaten 68-10, while the U17s lost 60-14 and the U15s went down 54-6.

While it was tough to find positives to take out of the match, Rau said the lack of injuries and the work-out the defence got would benefit them when they played the Central Vipers next week.

"The Vipers are more like us, who I would call heartland sides - obviously Auckland and Counties are the big city teams who are way out in front - but in saying that, every game at this level is a challenge."

The Swords teams will be practising hard this week, knowing that this weekend's fixtures in Palmerston North could be the best chance for the premiers and the U15s - the U17s won their opening encounter against Waicoa Bay last week - to win their first match in this year's competition.

"I just want us to be competitive at the moment," Rau said. "Winning is a word that's still way up there, we've still got a lot of things to achieve in the way we play if we want to get there."

The teams will also have to cope with travelling to play in front of what is always a hostile and parochial crowd, which will be a challenge for some of the newer players.

Other results from the Pirtek National Premiership saw Waicoa Bay Stallions narrowly beat Southern 24-21. In the U17s, Counties Manukau beat Central Vipers 52-6 while the Southern Scorpions beat Waicoa Bay 38-32. In the U15s, Counties beat the Vipers 72-0, while the Scorpions edged Waicoa Bay 24-22.