Harbour to meet Otago in decider
STEVE Jackson is entitled to enjoy the good times.
Provincial rugby success and North Harbour have been strangers for a long time. Particularly in the years immediately prior to Jackson’s arrival from Counties-Manukau in 2014.
But they’re all on the verge of something quite special now, after beating Wellington 40-37 in yesterday’s Mitre 10 Cup semifinal at Westpac Stadium. Harbour will now meet Otago in Friday’s final in Dunedin, with a place in the top tier of provincial rugby up for grabs.
It’s a long way from the backto-back wooden spoons Harbour collected in the seasons before Jackson took charge.
‘‘It will be absolutely massive [to win the final],’’ Jackson said.
‘‘We were under no illusions when I first arrived that this was what I wanted and this is what I wanted our players to achieve. My job as a coach is to promote players for Super level and then All Blacks and winning a championship and getting into a premiership will also attract players to the union, hopefully bring back the community and bring back crowds.
‘‘Hopefully sponsors will get on board, because it’s a lot easier when you’re a winning side. It means a lot.’’
It sounds funny to say Harbour were the more clinical side yesterday. But, despite conceding 37 points, they were the most accurate of the two.
Wellington played a lot of good footy, it’s just that it was often followed by an inexplicable turnover or a poor decision. There were also some dreadful defensive lapses from set pieces.
Harbour led 10-0, after wing Tevita Li benefited from Lions lock Mark Reddish’s unexpected gift. Wellington replied with tries to hooker Leni Apisai and wing Wes Goosen and ought to have taken a handy lead into halftime.
Instead it was Harbour flanker Glenn Preston who had the half’s final say, barging over from close range.
When prop Nic Mayhew did similar immediately after halftime, then first five-eighth Bryn Gatland added a penalty, Harbour appeared to have kicked far enough clear at 30-18.
There’s a reason why teams battle away in the premiership, though. It’s because they battle to sustain 80 minutes of good rugby and things went tit for tat from there.
Joe Hill and Asafa Aumua GETTY IMAGES scored for Wellington, Li put Daniel Hilton-Jones in for Harbour’s reply, Gatland kicked a penalty and then a Sheridan Rangihuna try made the final score a little closer than it deserved to be.
So good stuff from Jackson and Harbour. Few people fancied them, but they’ve built during the season and are worthy finalists. Well done. But that’s only half the story.
The other half is that Wellington had this competition for the taking, then lost four games in succession to bow at the semifinal stage. That’s simply not good enough for a side of their stature and pressure will now go on coach Earl Va’a to retain his job.
He said after the loss that he was keen to continue, but the Wellington Rugby Football Union will need to be convinced that progress is being made.
The Lions were finalists in Va’a’s first year in charge so – based on outcomes alone – they’ve gone backwards a little. O’Reilly Cup.
For large periods this game appeared as though it was women against schoolgirls. The Black Ferns were clinical, embracing power, pace and had a clear idea of where they were going and what they wanted to achieve.
While the opposition will improve greatly, Moore can be pleased with this starting point as he builds towards three tests against England, Canada and Ireland on the northern tour and ultimately next year’s World Cup in August.
Black Ferns captain Fiao’o Fa’amausili, with the first of her brace, opened the scoring after just five minutes and the flood gates gave way not long after. The home side crossed for five tries in the first half to hold a 31-3 halftime advantage.
Truth is, there was only ever one team in it.