A watershed moment for Harbour Rugby this season with Northcote taking out the Buck Shelford shield as winners of the 1st round, and of equal significance the new trial laws being implemented in this second round of Premier 1 competition,
The feature match of this first week of Round 2 was a game that lived up to its billing. North Shore kicked into gear early quickly running the scoreboard out to 14 – 3 until Northcote started putting in the big hits and stopping the Shore boys behind the advantage line. Whilst the Shore team turned at halftime with that advantage, momentum was clearly with Northcote who continued to apply the pressure and where rewarded with a well worked try through the middle to bring the score back to 14-10 midway into the half. Two quick penalties where then traded and at 17-13, Shore had to hang tough for the final 5 minutes, but a dominate Northcote side had other ideas. From the Northcote kick-off, Shore lost the ball when they were clearing the ensuing ruck and Northcote pounced on the ball and through a couple of desperate tackles to do down under the bar with the easiest of conversions. Northcote had to defend for the last three minutes, but had answers to everything Shore threw at them to take a well deserved 20-17 win.
Another cliff hanger match a few kms up the road at Glenfield saw a last minute penalty clinch the win for home-side. Western came with great intent but an equally desperate Glenfield side made it a real physical clash for both sides at it for the 80. Like the Shore v Northcote game, there were a number of penalties that we are not used to seeing as the games were played under the new laws which reward the attaching sides at the breakdown.
Takapuna got there campaign back on track after an indifferent performance last week, Accounting for a very competitive Silverdale 30 -17. Takapuna paced this match well, taking points as opportunities and mistakes were made, and never really give Silverdale much of a sniff.
East Coast Bays surprised many with a great display of football in what would many would class as an upset by accounting for Massey 19-12. Massey have been up and down this season, posting some strong wins, but also struggling to find combinations at times. The new law interpretations seemed to have an effect on the Massey boys in this one, albeit ECB threw all they had at them throughout the afternoon.
Mahurangi battled hard for their win over Marist, only easing away in the final quarter as the Marist boys continue to show ticker.
As for the new laws, it was clear that teams with the ball were attacking for longer periods of time. The new law changes the ruck, effectively taking away the rights to the defender over the ball. This clearly helped those sides that had a strong set piece as the continuity they were able to generate enabled them more time to manipulate their defending opponents. It certainly caused a number of penalties that had many spectators scratching their heads, but the talk was that the game certainly sped up, probably rewarding the fitter sides. It will be interesting to watch the development in the weeks to come.
Results: North Harbour Premier 1 – 7 May
North Shore 17 (C Mackie x 2 tries; J McGregor 2 Con, 1 Pen) Northcote 20 (Aaron Tunui, Jason Young Tries; Callum Law 1 Pen 1 Con, Ben Searle 1 Pen 1 Con) HT 14-3
Glenfield 19 (Michael Little, Puavao Samoa Tries; David Halaufia, x3 Pen) Western 17 (J Seala, P Volovola Tries; R Prasad 2 con 1 pen) HT11-7
Taka 30 Silverdale 17 (Philippe McConnell, Raniera Takarangi Tries; David McMurtrie 2 Con, 1 Pen) HT 13-3
Mahurangi 29 (H Kose, C Venter, E Sicinilawa, C Dunn 2 Tries; L Thomas, C Dunn Con) Marist 19 HT 17-14
ECB 19 v Massey 12 (Matt Vaega , Rhema Sagote Tries; Nalu Tuigamala Con)
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