Pivotal loss means Northland unable to match Waikato

A determined effort wasn't good enough to see the Northland Under-18 side overcome the loss of their pivot Troy Lobendahn, against Waikato on Saturday, and they lost their fourth competition game 16-0.
 Lobendahn was injured just five minutes into the game leaving the backline struggling to compensate in heavy conditions at Hikurangi.
"Tactically we struggled quite a bit after we lost him, conditions were difficult and changing your first choice first five-eighth so early, was hard," coach Hector Davies said.
It was the team's fourth consecutive loss in the competition but they haven't been playing out of their league, losing narrowly in two of those matches.
"We've been struggling for size a little ... when we played Bay of Plenty last week, they had five players taller than out tallest guy, which makes the set-piece a real struggle for us, it's just been one of those years for us," Davies continued.
While individuals in the side have been outstanding, like hooker Ben Berridge and centre Whiria Meltzer, they haven't been enough to get results.
"The players have been progressing well and haven't lacked any ticker at all, it's just a hard competition and our problem is, once again, that we've already lost so many of our top players by the time they get to 18, and of course, travel," he said.
Training is always a struggle for Northland representative teams. With 10 players from the far north and six from the mid-north in the side, 90-minute training sessions can swallow more than eight hours for some players in real time.
Another tough challenge lies in store for the squad against Auckland B next week, and in all probability the side will battle it out for the wooden spoon in the grade, against North Harbour the following week in Kawakawa.
Meanwhile, the under-18 development team, Vikings, went down 42-7 against Harlequins.
The U-16s continued their good run in their competition, making it three wins from four games with a 52-0 trouncing of Thames Valley on Saturday. The U-14s were also successful, with a comprehensive 34-17 win over Counties-Manukau.