Northland 77
Manawatu 8
Northland tuned up for their looming inter-franchise battle with a rollicking victory against Manawatu yesterday as their brand of total rugby caught fire in Whangarei.
In a week when the province celebrated the rise of coach Bryce Woodward to assistant coach of the Blues, plenty of his side suggested they might also be Super 14 candidates next year if their form continues.
Victory on their home ground was a first in several seasons as they rebounded from the misery of losing in extra time last round to North Harbour to suffocate then bury Manawatu.
Northland were without their main howitzer, Rene Ranger, who is in South Africa with the All Blacks, but they had plenty of standout performers in his absence.
The warnings were clear for Auckland this Sunday at Eden Park, neglect any area of the game and Northland will create havoc.
"We owed the crowd," inspiring captain Jared Payne said. "We worked in 10 minute blocks, concentrating on not switching off where we have struggled in past years."
Payne shifted into centre from where he claimed four tries as Northland grew in confidence, adventure and accuracy from their 30-8 halftime lead.
Pre-season, Payne was in doubt because of a hand injury but his recovery has been a huge boost to the side.
The 24-year-old has played Super rugby for several franchises and similar experiences for others like Bronson Murray, Dean Budd and David Holwell has given the side more sting and assurance.
At the break coach Woodward demanded they work hard on getting more width into their game while he also barked out a potent reminder about the galling loss to Harbour.
Within a few minutes they were gifted a try when Manawatu tried to chip out of their 22 but kicked it straight to David Holwell for a stroll to the line.
There were any number of scintillating Northland moves in the match, boosted by shoddy Manawatu tackling, as they found a relentless edge which has not always been apparent.
They were behind early to a Craig Clare penalty but from there they built steadily. Holwell had a few mixed tactical kicks before he and his mates clicked into gear. Both sides lost a player each, Lachie Munro and Doug Tietjens, to the sinbin after a minor skirmish but a try from Payne just shy of halftime showed Northland's threat.
A turnover steal from impressive lock Pat O'Connor ended 65m later with Payne crossing the stripe. That counter set the tone and Northland added seven more tries after the break as Manawatu ran out of sting, resilience, defenders and clues.
Several moves looked like training ground rehearsals. Northland moved lineout possession to midfield rucks before reversing the flow where they had spare men. Another hardworking lock, Mark Burman, profited from one move and Payne another.
Munro banked 32 points from several tries and goalkicking to keep the lid on Manawatu who were expected to offer a serious inquiry after testing Canterbury for much of their clash last round.
