Rugby: Second spell revival gives Harbour hope

North Harbour's Ken Pisi is caught by the Otago defence at North Harbour Stadium last night. Photo / Greg Bowker

Near flawless goalkicking and a bizarrely lopsided penalty count provided the impetus for an improbable North Harbour comeback in Albany last night.

Up 23-9 at the break and playing the only rugby worth watching, Otago suddenly and catastrophically fell off the same page as referee Bryce Lawrence.

Harbour clawed their way back into the match, first via Ben Botica's boot, then through a well-worked try to flanker Malakai Ravulo. Luke McAlister added another penalty after Botica was subbed before Ravulo was rewarded with an opportunist try at the death as Otago Fetu'u Vainikolo tried and failed to create a try from the end of the Earth.

It capped a 26-0 second half for the home side and left faded powerhouse Otago contemplating another miserable trip home from the greater Auckland region.

With one point from four matches, the Highlanders union looks destined to be playing their rugby in the second-tier championship in World Cup year. A week ago most would have picked Harbour to join them, but this will bring hope to a union that has had its share of critics.

What they lacked in class they made up for in commitment, something that would have sent coach Craig Dowd to bed last night with a warm glow of satisfaction.

They are far from the finished product, but he might just be starting to see the bones of something he can work with.

It's hard to see what Otago can take from this. They were good but not great in the first half, scoring two tries in two minutes, both of which can be attributed to a bit of individual inspiration rather than a playbook of moves.

They hit the self-destruct button, although those with blue and gold running through their veins will insist Lawrence pushed it for them (incidentally, it becomes difficult to argue that the ref doesn't have a snitcher on one team when he pulls them back for kicking out on the full even though the player, Chris Small, was clearly inside his 22m).

It wasn't until replacement prop Halani Aulika was inexplicably allowed to barrel through a ruck virtually unchallenged to score that the match sparked into life. From the restart Harbour looked to have reclaimed the ball but the tap back was untidy and Ben Smith suddenly found himself in space. His kick was weighted perfectly and wing Joe Hill outpaced the cover.

In between times, Botica and Otago first five-eighths Glenn Dickson engaged in a kicking duel, both making the difficult look easy.

If Dickson had even one opportunity to add to his tally in the second half, this match could have had a different ending, but that was never going to happen while they were camped in the wrong half and on the wrong side of the referee.

FULL TIME SCORE
North Harbour: 35 (Malakai Ravulo 2 tries; Ben Botica 5 pen con, Luke McAlister pen con).

Otago: 23 (Halani Aulika, Joe Hill tries; Glenn Dickson 3 pen 2 con).
Halftime: 9-23.

* In the curtain-raiser, Westlake Boys' High School won the North Harbour secondary schools championship with a 28-15 victory over Rosmini College.