Rugby: Pack drives Taniwha triumph

Northland stunned the New Zealand rugby public on Saturday by beating Waikato in Hamilton for the first time in almost 30 years but it was the way that they did it that left mouths ajar.

With two minutes to go the Taniwha kicked a penalty into the corner, winning the resulting lineout and then driving Dan Pryor over in the corner to level the scores. Then Ash Moeke slotted the sideline conversion to win the game 29-27.

Moeke's splendid kick and some great back play aside, the historic win can be laid at the feet of the forwards, who worked tirelessly to compete at the breakdown winning 94 rucks and mauls to Waikato's 77.

"The boys really turned up up front and put the pressure on them and it was like any win - it all started up front - if you don't win good ball for your backs you're going to struggle," forward leader and Taniwha co-captain Bryce Willams said.

"It's been one of our focuses this year to develop a really strong forward pack and to front up for every game and we didn't really do that against Otago, so we worked hard during the week and beat each other up a bit and that really paid off," he said.

Gone also were the missed tackles and ill discipline that cost them so dearly in the Otago match. The Waikato pack were bigger and stronger but apart from a brief period in the first half when they struggled in the scrums, the visiting forwards shaded their much vaunted opposites.

"They've got size and experience in the scrum. We addressed that at halftime and when we came back our scrum went a lot better and our lineout was really good," - Williams said.

The game was a classic see-saw battle with the lead changing no less than seven times.

Fullback Faatoina Autagavaia struck from a fine breakaway to score the Taniwha's first try early in the first half replying to Matt Vant Leven's seventh minute effort for Waikato. Marcel Cummings-Toone then touched down for the locals with Moeke and Waikato's Trent Renata trading kicks for the rest of the spell to see the home side lead 17-12 at halftime.

Mateo Malupo started the second spell well for the Taniwha by kicking through a loose ball, beating Renata in the race to the in-goal area to score. Northland played their best rugby in the second spell but couldn't always capitalise and when Waikato winger Declan O'Donnell scored with seven minutes left, a gloomy bus trip home looked likely.

But with their season in the balance, Northland needed something special in the final five minutes and were accurate enough to execute the winning seven-pointer and close out the game - a fact that should see a decent turnout on the terraces at Toll Stadium for their first home match on Wednesday evening against Manawatu.