Rampaging Northern Regions get final revenge

The Northern Regions (Te Hiku O Te Ika) Maori Colts team beat the South Island (Te Waipounamu) Colts team 43-3 in Christchurch on Saturday  to win the regional competition final.
They beat Central Regions (Te Tini A Maui) last Saturday.
Awanui centre Whiria Meltzer, Taipa's second five-eighth Karaitiana Vette Welsh, Kawakawa halfback Kadin Te Nana and Mangakahia winger Saxon Samuels all played leading roles in the win.
Vette Welsh captained the team, which included players from North Harbour, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
The win was a pleasing result for the side's Northland coaches Hector Davies, Brad Te Haara and Peter Nock, as the team had been runners-up to the South Island in 2008 and 2009.
The Northern Regions coaches had a huge challenge ahead of them before the match. They realised on Friday morning that their two starting locks, both from Auckland, were unavailable after injuries sustained at club training on Thursday night. They were forced to adapt loose forwards into locks and  lacking height, use a number of short lineout options to counter the much taller opposition.
No8 Sam Henwood from Auckland, the younger brother of former Northland provincial player Tim Henwood, stepped up to the mark to jump at No2 and had a great game winning four lineouts against the throw and winning all but one that was thrown to him.
The South Island started strongly commanding most of the field position in the first 20 minutes and were ahead 3-0 after scoring from a penalty in the fourth minute.
The Northern team defended strongly and scored two tries to Waikato tight head prop Chubb Hale in the 20th and 25th minute with one converted by Waikato fullback Todd Doolan.
North Harbour winger Kaz Adams scored in the 34th minute, with Doolan again converting to give Northern a 19-3 lead at the break.
Northland centre Whiria Meltzer then ghosted through a gap in the midfield at the halfway line and stepped the South Island fullback to score a sensational try 12 minutes into the second half to put Northern into a dominant position.
Waikato loose head prop Tahi Ruru scored a try after 20 minutes followed by tries to replacement first-five Shae Luke Ellis  in the 34th minute and another to Kaz Adams in the 37th minute with Luke Ellis converting his own try to end the game 43-3.
Vette Welsh was dominant in the midfield calling the shots for a pacy backline but the real battle was won up front by a courageous forward pack who refused to give and dominated the breakdown area.
The win gave the team the Manny McDonald Trophy, which will begin its year-long stint in the North Island in  Northland.
The Northern senior team lost 28-17 in a match that got away from them after a slow start, giving the Southern region's team the Prince of Wales Trophy. It was a similar story in the women's competition with the Southern team's comfortable win helping the South to win the George Nepia Trophy for overall points during the tournament.
Northland's Henry Mackie, the overall organiser of this year's competition, said the Colts win, in particular, was a boost for Maori rugby in the regions.
"We were very pleased with the standard of rugby  played in this year's contest. It is important that players have to really compete for positions ... and that leads us to recruit more players for the academies and that helps us promote rugby and Maori rugby at the grassroots level," he said.