League: Bulls tough and smart against Rangers

The Waitakere Rangers were without second rower Matt Rua and the Canterbury Bulls enjoyed the late injection of Warriors prop Richard Villasanti in their 35-18 Bartercard Cup win.

Rua got married at the weekend and was not named for the game and Rangers captain Ricky Henry missed the game and may miss the rest of the season, requiring an operation on an old leg injury.

Villasanti withdrew from the Warriors side with a knee problem to play Souths mid-week but then fronted for the Bulls and scored a try, kicked five goals and a field goal for a personal tally of 15 points. Suspicion remains that the Warriors are hoping he'll leave and alleviate their salary cap over-spend.

The Rangers started slowly and never recovered, though there were signs their combinations were improving. The Bulls ground them down with tough and smart play and scored six tries to four as they pushed on from a halftime lead of 16-8. Rangers half Dean Shepherd could land just the one goal and the game was closer than the scoreline suggested.

The Northern Storm pushed close in Hamilton, taking an 18-16 lead over WaiCoa Bay at halftime before going down 36-26, seven tries to six.

Warrior Lance Hohaia had one try and two goals.

Warriors prop George Tuakura and wing Cooper Vuna will turn out for the Tamaki Leopards against a Wellington side including Simon Mannering tonight. The remainder of round five is completed next weekend, with the Central Falcons to meet North Harbour at Ericsson Stadium as curtainraiser to the Warriors-Bulldogs game on Sunday, then the Auckland Lions to meet Counties-Manukau.

In the grandfinals of the National Juniors Competition on Saturday, the Auckland Crowns beat cross-town rivals the Sea Lions in both under-16s and under-18s. Both games were effectively over by the break, the 16s up 30-6 and the 18s leading 28-4 by halftime. At the end it was 40-14 and 38-4.