Taniwha beat BOP 30-23 in ITM Cup

A pumped Northland Taniwha did the cambridge blue jersey proud when they ended Bay of Plenty's winning streak, beating them 30-23 in their ITM Cup crossover match at Whangarei's Toll Stadium.
The Steamers, who are on top of the premiership division after pipping Counties Manukau, North Harbour, Waikato and Wellington in four games over the past fortnight, expected to roll Northland, fifth in the lower championship division with just two wins from four matches.
But Northland's passion - and discipline - kept them in front for the entire 80 minutes of last night's round seven match and saw them claim a morale-bolstering victory, executed without two key backs; skipper Jared Payne and Rene Ranger, who were sidelined with injuries.
Northland limited errors in their game - something they had been working hard on at training after losing earlier matches to Manawatu and Taranaki through simple mistakes, and put on a display the coaching staff, fans and the players themselves could be proud of.
Bay of Plenty were out-muscled in the set pieces and in open play. Northland fullback Lachie Munro compensated for his missing Super 15 Blues teammates in the backline with an optimal performance and a 100 per cent kicking effort.
Munro opened his night by booting over a booming penalty from 48m to give his side the lead in the 12th minute and added another two penalties and three conversions, one from wide out.
Left wing Bryce Heem also had an outstanding night, scoring two converted tries in the left corner during the first half. Lock Mark Burman added another after centre Derek Carpenter found him after making a break through the middle.
Bay of Plenty first five-eighth Daniel Waenga booted a penalty kick while openside flanker Sam Cane dotted the ball down after Northland muffed a restart to stay in touch with their hosts, trailing 24-10 at halftime.
Munro stretched the lead out with two second-half penalties with Waenga adding a second for Bay of Plenty.
Bay of Plenty came back into the game in the final 10 minutes as Northland, down to 14 men with the sin-binning of first five-eighth Ash Moeke, began to tire and scored their second try through wing Lelia Masaga who crashed over in the left corner to set up a tense finish for a vocal and excited home crowd.
The gap narrowed to seven when Bay of Plenty, enjoying dominance for the first time in the game, managed to get numbers wide to outflank the Northland defence and speedy substitute Toby Arnold scored another unconverted try.
However, Northland managed to hold on to record the win.
A despondent Bay of Plenty coach Sean Horan admitted his side played badly. "We wanted to learn from last year (after losing to Northland 36-24) but we made too many mistakes, too many errors," Horan said.
Bay of Plenty, with a bonus point for losing within seven points, now have 20 points; Northland move to 13.
Scorers: Northland 30 (Bryce Heem 2, Mark Burman tries; Lachie Munro 3 pen, 3 con) Bay of Plenty 23 (Sam Cane, Lelia Masaga, Toby Arnold tries; Daniel Waenga 2 pen, con). Halftime: 24-10.
* Northland will swap their rugby kit for their togs tomorrow to take part in Whangarei Aquatic Centre's Taniwha Day. The public are invited to the pools complex to compete against the players in various fun activities including slide races, a bombing competition, aqua run races and water volleyball. Taniwha Day starts at 11.30am.