Aucks beat Northland
THE big crowd on hand for the Auckland 1A schools final must have known something when so many of them streamed out of Eden Park before the supposed main event even kicked off yesterday.
It is fair to say the AucklandNorthland Mitre 10 Cup clash that followed the rousing second-half comeback by St Kentigern College to claim their fifth title in the last seven years, 26-19 over Sacred Heart, did not match the excitement levels of the schoolboy encounter.
And nor did it draw anything resembling the same sized crowd which had at least halved by the time the professionals came out to play. That says a lot about the new scheme of things in the modern game, where provincial footy does not fire the interest like it once did.
Yes, Auckland were grateful to secure their first win of the new season, but the nature of it certainly left a lot to be desired as they ground out an ugly, turnover-ridden 10-8 victory in their crossover clash against their northern mates who dropped to their first defeat.
‘‘We defended really well but we’d keep turning it over and giving it back to them, and they would have another go,’’ said a frustrated Auckland coach Nick White. ‘‘We’ve got to sort that out.
‘‘We’ve also got some tactical stuff we need to sort out with our kicking too. But the boys gutsed it out. If they hadn’t gutsed it out, we would have got beaten.’’
There was just a try apiece in a match that had plenty of commitment and physicality, but all too little in the way of skill as neither side was able to imprint itself on the encounter.
The Aucklanders clearly have a long way to go if they hope to challenge the big guns of the premiership division. They made too many errors and were too wayward in their attack to greatly trouble the Taniwha on a day when the gap between the two divisions looked pretty negligible.
‘‘It’s just the old one more phase mindset, set another ruck, and it’s going to give you an opportunity somewhere else,’’ added White of all all-too-anxious performance. ‘‘I know our backs are keen to have a crack and that’s great but we’ve got to pick the right pass, and when to give it.
‘‘We’ve just got to have a bit of pride in our individual skills. It was a win we desperately needed, but we’ve still got a bit of work to do, and just a short turnaround to Waikato (at Eden Park on Wednesday).
‘‘We’ve got a long way to go and we don’t have a lot of time. After Waikato we’ve got North Harbour on Sunday. They’re both playing well.’’
With a bit more luck the visitors might have snatched a major upset as they gave as good as they took throughout and on the balance probably created the more promising openings.
But Auckland snuck home behind a strong defence, a big pack that shaded the tight exchanges and the fact their lone GETTY IMAGES try was scored a lot handier to the posts than Northland’s.
There were few standout individuals in either side, though Auckland skipper Patrick Tuipulotu carried strongly for the home side and Solomon Alaimalo looked a likely sort on the left wing for the visitors.
The Aucks would have been rapt to take a 10-3 lead into the sheds after soaking up a fair bit of pressure from the visitors, not to mention a fairly heavy shower.