Taniwha tumble to tough Taranaki loss

HEROICS: Dan Hawkins carves up the Taranaki defence on his way to scoring 10 points for Northland. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Taranaki's coach gave Northland the biggest compliment after his side's 31-20 ITM Cup win at Toll Stadium, saying it was their toughest game of the season.

Taniwha coach Derren Witcombe took the compliment in good spirit despite Northland missing out on a bonus point in the dying stages of the game in front of a large crowd.

Proud of the effort shown in Thursday night's arm-wrestle, Witcombe said it was quite the compliment considering Taranaki were nearly top of the table.

"[Taranaki are a] very good side but again our boys fronted, they never gave in.

"I felt we deserved a point, if not a win," Witcombe said. "I just felt for the boys because again they left everything on the field."

Particularly impressing Witcombe were Troy Gilbert and Brook Gilmore, playing at second-five and centre, saying for Gilmore to be firing his inside men had to be working in tune also.

"Brook up against that big fella [Seta Tamanivalu], he played bloody well. He's having a good patch at the moment, and let's hope that it continues, touch wood."

Witcombe added the Pryor brothers, Kara and Dan, had outstanding games also - saying Kara in particular was hungry for the ball and searching for turnovers.

Capturing Witcombe's attention on Thursday was the crowd numbers, impressing him with it being a week-day game.

"For us coaches it's hard to see the atmosphere and see how many are there but we noticed it.

"Our players are doing themselves proud and bringing the crowd in. We just need to keep playing the way we are.

"The support has been awesome and everyone is noticing it."

However, of concern to the Taniwha is a knee injury to Cam Eyre, which forced him from the field just before halftime.

While the injury is yet to be diagnosed, it is hoped Eyre will be back to lead the Taniwha charge into the business end of the season.

Another injury concern coming from the match was to prop Namatahi Waa, who left the field at halftime. Witcombe said in line with his and assistant coach George Konia's policy, if Waa was ruled out they would be bringing in a prop from the Northland B team.

Adding to the front row injury woes was word that imported prop Matt Talaese had been ruled out for the season after doing his ACL.

Injuries aside, the season is far from over, with the Taniwha still sitting equal top of the table with Manawatu.

Witcombe said the loss was far from devastating and they would set about correcting their errors before facing Bay of Plenty next Thursday night in Mt Maunganui.

"We're going to keep tracking [to the semifinals] and fixing what we need to, we're going to go down to Bay of Plenty and give them a good go.

"We've got three games left, if we got our game right we can challenge any team. We're going to go in to win those three games."

Result: Northland 20 (Gilmore, Macilai tries; Hawkins 2 cons, 2 pens) Taranaki: 31 (Tamanivalu, McKenzie, Thompson, Naholo tries; McKenzie 2 pens, con, Rei pen). Halftime: 7-11.