from taniwha website this am......
Toll Northland side to play North Harbour
Arnold Rae Park, Kaitaia
Kick off, 2:30pm
1. Justin Davies
2. Mikaele Tuu'u
3. Matt Wallis
4. Roy Griffin
5. Mark Burman
6. Dean Budd
7. Sam Barker
8. Cam Goodhew
9. Luke Hamilton
10. Lachie Munro (c)
11. Iwi Hauraki
12. Aaron Bancroft
13. Brock Mustard
14. Mateo Malupo
15. Simon Munro
Reserves:
Tim Dow, Bronson Murray, Pat O'Connor, Cam Eyre, Ross Wright, Rhyan Caine, Aiden Dewes, Adam Clarke
AND.....
Toll Northland recorded an encouraging 31 – 21 victory over neighbours North Harbour on Wednesday in their first pre season fixture of the year.
The match was played in gloriously fine conditions on a great playing surface at Arnold Rae Park in front of a crowd off over 2000 spectators.
After withstanding some early pressure, Toll Northland was the first to score when Simon Munro, re gathered his own kick to score. This was converted by captain for the day Lachie Munro from out wide.
Northland then proceeded to set up camp inside North Harbour territory for long periods following Mustard’s try, and whilst Simon Munro and Mateo Malupo went close, the team was unable to breach the staunch North Harbour defence.
It was not until half an hour into the half when Sam Barker expertly won a turnover, which resulted in Luke Hamilton putting a clever kick in for Mikaele Tuu’u to chase onto and score out wide.
Munro kicked the sideline conversion along with a penalty on the stroke of half time which saw Toll Northland take a 17 – 0 advantage into the break.
North Harbour rung the changes to start the second half with an entirely different XV taking the field, with immediate results as two tries to start the half narrowed the score to 17 – 14.
However, to Toll Northland’s credit, they replied soon after North Harbour’s second try. A well work backline move from scrum time saw Western Sharks wing Mateo Malupo score a classy try, beating two players in the process to create some breathing room for the side.
The result was put beyond doubt when replacement hooker Tim Dow gratefully intercepted a North Harbour pass and showed a clean pair of heals over forty meters to evade the covering North Harbour defence and score next to the uprights.
A consolation try by North Harbour narrowed the gap, however the final score line would be seen by those at the game as a true reflection of the game.
There were many positive to come out of the game for the Northland side.
Lock Mark Burman was a dominate force at line out time, Number Eight Cam Goodhue was powerful with ball in hand and Sam Barker, playing openside flanker was brilliant at ruck time, turning over North Harbour ball and having a high work rate especially on defence.
In the backs, Luke Hamilton and Lachie Munro controlled the game well, Aaron Bancroft showed touches of class by his ability to put players into gaps and Simon Munro had a good all round game at fullback.
Well done the Taniwha.....who are delighted that Rene Ranger now has his firstb AB start in Wellywood!
Cheers,
Baz
