Gatland kicks Harbour to title
A Bryn Gatland dropped goal has propelled North Harbour into the Mitre 10 Cup premiership.
The first five-eighth slotted a composed kick with less than one minute on the clock to beat Otago 17-14 in the second-tier championship final in Dunedin last night.
So many times rugby games come down to one moment or one decision.
For Otago the match may have come down to coach Cory Brown’s decision to replace first five-eighth Fletcher Smith with Scott Eade with 16 minutes remaining. Smith had played a tidy match and nailed both of his shots at goal, while Eade came into the game with a kicking percentage in the low 60s.
Eade would go on to miss two penalties which left the door open for Harbour.
North Harbour were led by Michael Little, who could not have done much more in his final chance to prove to Super Rugby coaches that he deserves a contract. He was dynamic on attack, but it was his work on defence that made him shine.
Otago’s standout was halfback Jonathan Ruru who was similarly effective on defence and made a couple of breaks on attack.
Otago started the match with plenty of attacking intent.
Having already broken the North Harbour line once, wing Fa’asiu Fuata’i crossed in the left corner for the opening try within the first two minutes.
North Harbour had a chance to open their balance with a penalty in the 11th minute, but Gatland’s kick hit the post.
Otago launched an attack from behind their own goal line, getting within metres of Harbour’s line. After back-to-back collapsed mauls, Harbour flanker Glenn Preston was sent to the bin. But North Harbour managed to weather the storm and quickly turned back onto attack.
There was a lengthy delay as TMO Shane McDermott examined if second five-eighth Little had managed to get the ball down before being dragged into touch. The footage appeared inconclusive, but he was given the benefit of the doubt and the try was awarded.
Otago looked to have the better of the running once Preston returned, but small mistakes prevented them from converting them into points.
Gatland nailed a 50m penalty with two minutes remaining in the half and added another on the stroke of halftime to take a fourpoint lead into the break. Another Gatland penalty early in the second half extended the lead to seven.
A well-placed Michael Collins kick put North Harbour under pressure and lock Tom Franklin barged over for the try.
Former All Black Andrew Hore was injected into the match at the 60-minute mark.
With eight minutes remaining Otago were award a penalty 40m out from the line, but replacement first five-eighth Eade pushed his second kick wide of the posts.
That gave Harbour the opportunity for a last-ditched attack to seal the game and Gatland made no mistake.