Rugby: Northern passion pays off

Northland rugby selectors are being told to put their glasses on and have a look at the talent in the Mid-to-Far North after Bay of Islands' completed a hat-trick of Harding Shield victories.

Bay of Islands coach Shaun Haynes applauded his team for putting on a massive performance in their 34-17 win, which saw his side deny Whangarei a bonus point of any kind which would have seen the shield move south.

"It was a huge task in front of us," Haynes said of Saturday's match in Kaitaia. "We had to get four tries, to get that bonus, and hold them out from four tries and within seven. They only needed one bonus point to take it [the Harding Shield].

"We used to tell people the power had shifted to the north, and, now, we're saying it's absolutely in the north.

"The selectors are going to have to put their glasses on and have a good look at players in the north ... I hope they haven't got blinkers on their glasses."

Haynes said his side were desperate for the win and you could see it from the looks on his team's faces.

"To sum it up, really, they went out there with a passion on the day, and had the hunger for it.

"You could see it on the field in their defence, it was massive, they had that hunger.

"They played for each other and that camaraderie was there, they worked together as a unit and stuck to the game plan.

"I thought we were the underdogs even though we hold [the Harding Shield]. We only had two contracted players [in the ITM Cup ranks] while the Whangarei team had a lot of players in the wider training squad.

"It was the passion that did it on the day."

In Saturday's other Harding Shield match, Rodney/Northern Wairoa pipped a much improved Mangonui side 22-20.