Taniwha make hosts battle in capital clash

Wellington were made to battle to the end before emerging with a valuable come-from-behind 31-28 win over a feisty Northland in a fifth-round national provincial championship rugby match at Wellington on Saturday.
Beaten 41-7 by Wellington last year, Northland took the direct approach at every chance they got  to build a 25-10 lead at halftime.
All Blacks winger Rene Ranger produced a breathtaking sampling of his power and pace to set up two of Northland's tries.
His midfield burst and offload to Aaron Bancroft produced the first try then he manhandled his talented opposite Julian Savea like a rag doll before relaying the ball to flanker Dean Budd to dot down.
And suddenly, Wellington, who scored in between through hardworking centre Shaun Treeby, were staring at a 5-18 deficit with Northland fullback Lachie Munro also potting a penalty and a conversion.
Wellington closed the gap when Savea also showed his class to weave his way through the Northland defence for Victor Vito to score an unconverted try.
But Northland sneaked further ahead when Budd robbed Vito of the ball and flopped over the tryline for Munro to add the extras.
Savea could not long be denied and the lanky winger put Wellington back on the rails with a try of his own early in the 55th minute after his side had weathered another series of stiff jabs from Northland.
The try of the match came not long after. First five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili wriggled and twisted like an eel past four tackles from inside his 22m and from his offload to lock Jeremy, the ball moved to Hosea Gear who then released Vito for a length of the field try.
Fili's conversion brought Wellington within one point but Munro then kicked a penalty to take the score to 28-24.
Wellington's forwards took their chance in a late drive upfield to pin Northland down in deep defence, finally breaking through prop John Schwalger whose try was converted.
Munro had a chance to tie the scores in the dying minute but his kick from 35 metres was wide and Northland went home with a bonus point for finishing within seven points while Wellington took the five-point win for scoring more than four tries.
Wellington were the big movers after the weekend, although Southland continue to rule the roost after five rounds.
The 31-28 bonus-point victory over  Northland, 10-25 at halftime, saw Wellington glide up the standings into second from fifth a week before.
Southland are on 21 points with Wellington on 19. Taranaki complete the top three on 18 after a 25-15 win over Otago which kept the Southerners firmly rooted at the bottom of the standings.
 Southland had to rely on the unerring boot of Robbie Robinson to grind out their fifth straight win of the season, this time over a battling Tasman ably led by former All Black lock Chris Jack.
Tasman failed to match their performance from the week before when they upset defending champions Canterbury 27-25 and they needed a long-range penalty pot from James Marshall to bank a bonus point for finishing within seven points of Southland, 16-21.
A clinical 35-16 win over Auckland, just their second of the season, saw Canterbury move up to fourth from sixth and they will expect further movement with Bay of Plenty and Northland next.
 
 High-flying Counties Manukau were the biggest losers, slumping to fifth from second after a heavy 39-3 defeat by Waikato.
 Hawke's Bay notched their first win of the season, beating Manawatu 17-9 at Palmerston North and Bay of Plenty beat North Harbour 39-29.NZPA