Auckland could have won by a hundred and something but the boys hung in there really well. Northern Swords coach Revell Neal A full turnout of players and a huge second-half effort against top national competition side Auckland Premiers, gave Northern Swords coach Revell Neal something to smile about yesterday.
While
the Swords went down by 86-6 at Toll Stadium, it could have been by a lot more had he home team not dug deep in the second half to restrict the visitors to 28 points, the coach said.
"Auckland could have won by a hundred and something but the boys hung in there really well, it was a good effort - they pulled together and stuck it out," he said.
Auckland were chasing a big winning margin to make it through to the grand final of the inaugural national competition on point differential, and they started the match at a hectic pace.
Scoring swiftly in the opening minutes, the bigger, fitter and more experienced Auckland players bombarded the Swords with a tirade of tries in the first half to lead by a daunting 56-0.
However, with nothing left to lose in the final round-robin game for the Northern Swords, the team stepped up and left everything on the field after the half-time break.
The hosts pleased the crowd of supporters when they sent Herewini Edmonds into score their only try of the match, which Sam Selwyn converted.
Under-17s Northern Swords Kahi Harawira made an impressive debut for the premiers playing on the wing and at fullback, but apart from the youngster, Neal said he could not single out an individual player's performance in what was a solid all-round team effort.
Auckland's victory places them in next week's thrilling grand final encounter against Counties Manukau.
Both the Northern Swords under-17s and under-15s had losses against Auckland, going down 98-0 and 74-4 respectively.
