Rugby: Harbour's head-scratcher - where did the early-season magic go?

Chris Smith is determined to push on in spite of disappointing results. Photo / Getty Images

Chris Smith gave the verbal equivalent of a furrowed brow and scratching of the head as he tried to explain how things have gone awry for North Harbour.

It all started so encouragingly in the Air New Zealand Cup, with a gritty three-point win over defending champions Canterbury in the first round, on the back of a yeoman defensive effort.

It seemed the emphasis on a tight-knit line when the opposition had the ball, as stressed by coaches, former All Blacks Craig Dowd and Jeff Wilson, in the leadup to the championship, was paying a dividend.

That win must seem an age ago now.

From there things have turned sour, with four successive losses. The good news? Apart from their trip to Carisbrook where they played poorly and were well beaten 29-9 by Otago in round three, the other defeats have been narrow - four points (Tasman), three (Northland) and two (Southland). Bonus points are small consolation at times like this.

The flipside is that Harbour will figure the three slender defeats could have been won, which could be a small cold crumb of encouragement.

But compounding their problems has been the defensive work. Both Otago and Southland rattled up four tries against Harbour. Twelve have been conceded in their four losses.

Add to that their own difficulties in scoring tries - just four in five games - and the picture looks grim in terms of making the semifinals.

Harbour sit second bottom ahead of tonight's match against Taranaki in New Plymouth. Blindside flanker and acting captain Smith, the national under-20 world championship-winning skipper in Wales last year, wishes he had the answers.

"It's hard to pinpoint why. It's definitely not through a lack of effort," he said.

"We're putting everything into it and that's why it's been disappointing. We know we're close and we know once we finally click and get things going the way we want them, the results will start coming for us."

Smith is among a crop of promising players in the championship. He was a national secondary schools representative, played in the New Zealand under-19 team which reached their world final in Dubai three years ago, and was named one of the five promising players of the year in 2007 by the Rugby Almanack.

He maintains the Harbour heads are still up despite the setbacks.

"We're a pretty positive group and Craig and Jeff have been really good," he said. "We're finding good field position and doing a lot of good things. We're just not managing to get over the line and convert our opportunities."

If they lose to Taranaki tonight, Harbour could find themselves 10 points off the top four by the end of the weekend. Seven matches will remain. Even though it's a lengthy campaign, the feeling will grow that time is running out.