28/09/2012
Bay of Plenty and Northland both tend to play a similar sort of physical, aggressive and fast game so this match will be decided by who does things better and more accurately on the day.
VENUE & TIME: BayPark Stadium, Mt Maunganui, Sunday September 30 @ 1635
HEAD TO HEAD: Played 55; Bay of Plenty 21, Northland 33, drawn 1.
LAST TIME: August 4, 2011 (Whangarei) – Northland 30-23 Bay of Plenty.
WALKING WOUNDED: Culum Retallick limped out of the Wellington game with what looked a major ankle problem and his season is probably over. Mafi Kefu has been playing with a broken thumb which is obviously still bothering him, and he is back on the bench for this match. There have been wholesale changes in the Northland side and many are injury-related; Bryce Williams did his Achilles at Invercargill and his year is done while Tone Kopelani, Cam Goodhue, Derek Carpenter and Tau Fa’asisila were others who were ruled out on medical grounds. The replacements tend to be on the speedy side and Northland has named two openside flankers to deal with the impressive Bay of plenty trio.
FORM:
Bay of Plenty:
Round 3: lost to Counties-Manukau 13-47 (a)
Round 4: lost to Waikato 6-15 (a)
Round 5: beat Auckland 37-16 (h)
Round 6: lost to Hawke’s Bay 41-42 (a)
Round 7: lost to Wellington 26-36 (h)
Northland:
Round 3: lost to Manawatu 20-33 (h)
Round 4: beat North Harbour 18-17 (h)
Round 5: beat Tasman 20-17 (a)
Round 6: lost to Taranaki 31-32 (h)
Round 7: lost to Southland 12-16 (a)
Bay of Plenty took another tough loss midweek against Wellington, although in fairness it must be said the Steamers were almost always chasing the game and trying to get back within one score. The forwards did plenty of good work in close, but ball security and penalties really hurt; the Bay gave up five penalties in its own half and all five cost three points apiece. The result left the Steamers needing to win out to make the four, which is starting to look fairly hard.
Northland had its chances at Invercargill but a slow start and some terrible handling, especially when points were on offer, meant they couldn’t make up the ground. When Northland got going it was dangerous and the backs gave Southland plenty to think about, but turnovers killed one promising situation after another. Northland will be grumpy about that; it’s the second close loss in a few days and those errors are all that stands between the team and a four-match winning run.
WHO’S HOT: Dan Goodwin has been a good pickup for Bay of Plenty and the big man brings plenty of experience to his hard-nosed game. With Retallick gone he’ll be back in his old locking role, but he has also impressed as a mobile No 6 who did plenty of the hard work. Chris Noakes got back into the swing of things on Tuesday and the run will only have sharpened him up. He did most things well and his goal-kicking was not too dusty for a man who has not played much in three months. Kendrick Lynn looks far more comfortable at centre and he is often threatening the line; his combination with Phil Burleigh has gelled nicely, and the Bay backs look a better unit on either side of the ball nowadays. The pair will have their hands full on Sunday, but they are good enough to deal with anything Northland can bring.
Nobody in the revamped Northland pack will be wearing the same jersey as on Wednesday, so they’ve all got a task in front of them. Leading the way will be Dan Pryor, who has been one of the better opensides going around this year whether it’s on attack or defence. His race with the Steamers fetchers will be worth watching. Ash Moeke continues to play well and his tactical kicking at Invercargill was always inventive, especially in a game where so much of the kicking was aimless and ‘armless. On many occasions those little kicks were into space behind the defence line, and Rene Ranger was both reading the play and collecting the kicks. He was, once again, Northland’s most dangerous player and his powerful running only complemented his ability to get free of the tacklers. It was hardly his fault that Northland came up a couple of points short.
WE THINK: With the pressure on both sides – and with both coming off midweek losses – this is one of those games that could swing either way. That said, it’s hard to go past all the forced changes in the Northland lineup when making forecasts and that disruption is sure to tell at some stage. It will take something special for Northland to win this match but we prefer Bay of Plenty, although they probably won’t have much in hand at the end.
TEAMS:
Bay of Plenty: 1. Greg Pleasants-Tate, 2. John Pareanga, 3. Tristan Moran, 4. Dan Goodwin, 5. Leon Power, 6. Tanerau Latimer (capt), 7. Luke Braid, 8. Carl Axtens, 9. Lewis Hancock, 10. Chris Noakes, 11. Jack Wilson, 12. Phil Burleigh, 13. Kendrick Lynn, 14. Lelia Masaga, 15. Lance MacDonald.
Reserves: 16. Nathan Harris, 17. Mike Kainga, 18. Keepa Mewett, 19. Jesse Acton, 20. Nick McCashin, 21. Simon Rolleston, 22. Mafi Kefu.
Northland: 1. Justin Davies, 2. Ross Wright, 3. Scott Vessey, 4. Hale T-Pole, 5. David Morgan, 6. Jack Ram, 7. Dan Pryor, 8. William Whetton, 9. Samisoni Fisilau, 10. Ash Moeke, 11. Mateo Malupo, 12. Rene Ranger (capt), 13. Fa’atoina Autagavaia, 14. Dan Caprice, 15. Eddie Paea.
Reserves: 16. David Hall, 17. Peni Kaufusi, 18. Jack Whetton, 19. Daniel Faleafa, 20. Rhyan Caine, 21. Orene Ai’i, 22. Matt Wright.
REFEREE: Richard Kelly
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