Rugby: Taniwha snatch victory

Northland proved they are a tough team to write off in the ITM Cup after a 20-17 comeback win in Blenheim.

A great jinking run from within his own half saw Mateo Malupo score one of the best Taniwha tries of the season, allowing Ash Moeke to level the scores nine minutes from time. Moeke continued his recent spell of fine goalkicking by slotting the winner with just over a minute to play.

Taniwha coach Adriaan Ferris was proud of the way the team fought back late in the second spell after Tasman had led 17-10.

"We backed ourselves to come back in the final 20 and we played some of our best rugby - it just shows what we can do," he said.

Ferris wasn't happy with some of the touchline officiating, particularly when his side was forced to pack down three scrums without a tighthead prop, and said he would be following up his queries through the correct channels.

The Taniwha led 10-3 at halftime thanks to a Derek Carpenter try and should have scored twice more late in the spell but they were let down by handling errors.

A try to Filipo Levi and the boot of Hayden Cripps and Andrew Goodman saw Tasman reel in the Taniwha after openside Jach Ram was sinbinned for detaching from the scrum as Tasman tried to engineer a pushover try.

Tasman scored 11 points while Ram was off the field but upon his return he continued to secure turnover after turnover and despite the indiscretion, it was his best game in the Cambridge Blue.

Turnovers kept Northland in the game, with Rene Ranger also securing his share but it was team effort for the Taniwha with all the players, including the reserves, digging deep for the win.

Tasman 17 (Filipo Levy try; Hayden Cripps 3 pens, Andrew Goodman pen) Northland 20 (Derek Carpenter, Mateo Malupo tries; Ash Moeke 2 cons, 2 pens).