Squad List, fixtures and results for the 2008 North Harbour Under 18 Representative Team

NORTH HARBOUR v AUCKLAND B, 4.10.08

North Harbour 16, Auckland B 17. HT Score 10-5.

Point scorers: L Brown Try, C Winks Con, 3 Pen.

Not for the first time this season, North Harbour disappointed its faithful supporters turning in a sub par performance to lose to Auckland B 16-17 at Bell Park in Pakuranga.

The coaches instruction at half time were clear and concise, you have the wind behind you, play the ball down their end of the park but North Harbour turned with the wind at their backs and a 10-5 halftime lead to play the poorest 40 minutes of their season.

Conditions at Bell Park Pakuranga were windy and Auckland B won the toss and played with first use on the wind, but North Harbour were first to get on the scoreboard. A 40 penalty kick attempt from Chris Winks held up in the breeze and lightning quick Ethan McGuire brilliantly caught the bouncing ball feeding the ball to the forwards for Liam Brown to rumble his way over, Chris Winks converted to give North Harbour a 7-0 lead early into the game. A penalty by Chris Winks gave North Harbour a 10-0 lead mid way through the first half.

North Harbour was lucky to hold onto that advantage with poor ball handling by Auckland B blowing 3 scoring moves keeping North Harbour in the match. They finally broke the North Harbour defence to score in the 30th minute but playing into the wind North Harbour lead at halftime 10-5.

Auckland B scored 2 tries in the 2nd half both would have been avoided if North Harbour had played smart rugby.

A series of poor tactical kicks plus missed tackles down the right wing put the big Auckland B lock away just 10 minutes after the break, the conversion gave Auckland B the lead for the first time in the match 10-12. Then a Chris Winks penalty in the 50th minute gave North Harbour back the lead 13-12, a further penalty 7 minutes later and North Harbour had a handy 16-12 with 13 minutes to go. Auckland B built momentum thru out the 2nd half with North Harbour’s lineout woes and poor kicking and decision making letting them down. Instead of listening to instructions and kick for the corners and applying pressure North Harbour played as individuals and in the end cost them the match with a chip kick over the Auckland B backs easily read and gathered in by an Auckland B player setting sail down the right hand wing to score in the corner to make the final score:

North Harbour 16 Auckland B 17

Although they didn’t win a game this team has been very well lead and captained by Evan Marshall. Despite the fact that he had to retire from the game with an injury 12 minutes into the game, Viliami Siale has been the standout loose forward of the side with his aggressive tackling and strong running, he has been assisted by Bryce Steel who has showed he is a player of the future.

The picks of the backs has been Ethan McGuire. Although starved of quality attacking ball, Ethan has shown that he will be a player of the future both with ball in hand and on defence.

NORTH HARBOUR v AUCKLAND A, 27.9.08.

North Harbour 11, Auckland A 24. HT Score 11-7.
Point Scorers: M Holland Try, C Winks 2 Pen.

Although beaten on the scoreboard 24-11 this was the best performance of the season for North Harbour in front of a vocal and enthusiast crowd at North Harbour Stadium.

Auckland A opened the scoring in the 2nd minute of the game with a converted try then a few minutes later Chris Winks kicked a handy penalty for Auckland A to lead 3-7. Then after a series of good phase play and an Auckland A infringement, North Harbour were awarded a penalty 5 metres from the line, Max Holland took a quick tap and drove over the line for a well deserved try. Chris Winks then kicked a penalty a few minutes later to give North Harbour the lead 11-7. Auckland A then went on the attack with a series of good phase ball but good communication and scanning on defence from North Harbour forced Auckland A into errors and stopped anymore scoring in the first half. North Harbour playing with the wind had a deserved lead at half time of 4 points.

The 2nd half was only 3 minutes old when Auckland A kicked a penalty then 3 minutes later had their 2nd converted try of the match through an overlap down the right hand side. Now playing into the wind, North Harbour struggled to get out of their own half but did manage several times to string several phases together and it looked very promising but Auckland A sealed the game with a converted try 8 minutes from time to make the final score: Auckland A 24 North Harbour 11

The front row of Jamie Cameron, Liam Brown and Captain Evan Marshall lead the way with great work in the set phases and the breakdowns, locks Matt Graham and Richard Haddon had very good games in the lineouts. Man of the match Viliami Siale and Bryce Steel were a constant menace for the Auckland team in the breakdown. Max Holland produced some big hits driving the big Auckland forwards backwards in some magnificent tackles.

Playing their best games for the year the midfield pairing of Chris Winks and Scott Siake were very solid on defence with Auckland failing to breach the Harbour midfield defence and wing Ethan McGuire made some good spot tackling.

Playing into the wind North Harbour defended most of the 2nd half and although North Harbour didn’t score this was a good gutsy effort and they never stopped trying. This was shown with the last play of the game Phillipe McConnell and Chris Winks combining down the right wing to almost put Richard Haddon in for a try.  

This was a massive improvement on previous weeks and although beaten by the much bigger Auckland A side on the scoreboard, North Harbour can hold their heads high knowing they left everything on the field. North Harbour showed passion, intensity and energy that has been missing in previous weeks. There is massive self belief in this side that we can end the season on a winning note against Auckland B next week at Bell Park Pakuranga.

NORTH HARBOUR v COUNTIES MANUKAU, 20.9.08.

North Harbour 25, Bay of Plenty 28, HT score 8-14.
Point Scorers: P McConnell, F Alofosio, E Marshall, L Brown Tries, P McConnell 1 Con, 1 Pen.

Counties Manukau beat North Harbour 28-25 in a very entertaining game in near perfect sunny conditions at the North Harbour Domain.

This was a game North Harbour targeted for their first win of the season but they let it slip away. It was very even in the first 20 minutes with good ball retention and good transfer between forwards and backs by the home team, both sides make several good breaks only for good cover defence to snuff out any chance of the opposition scoring.

Counties scored the first try of the match from a quick tap on the 22 spun it wide to score in the corner. North Harbour then scored their first try a few minutes later from a well worked lineout drive well secured by Matt Graham then scored by Filipo Alofosio.

Philippe McConnell then kicked a 40 metre penalty for Harbour to take the lead 8-7.

Then the home team let Counties back into the match with a soft converted try right on half time from a loose bouncing ball to make the halftime score: Counties Manukau 14 North Harbour 8

Counties got off to the best possible start in the 2nd half by scoring 2 quick tries to lead 28-8 with 25 minutes to play.

The game could have got away from North Harbour at this stage but they dug deep, showed a lot of guts and courage to score 3 tries in the 2nd half. 1st to  skipper Evan Marshall, the 2nd to replacement hooker Liam Brown, both tries from well worked lineout moves close to the Counties try line. The last try came from a long 22 drop out by North Harbour, Counties were caught inside their own half, the kick was chased up well, then great work by Philippe McConnell in the breakdown turned the ball over and he raced away to score under the posts, after he converted his try the final whistle blew for a final score of:

Counties Manukau 28 North Harbour 25

Unfortunately this was a game North Harbour should have won if they had taken some smarter options. Throughout the game North Harbour had good periods on attack but at critical stages let themselves down with elementary mistakes.

There were positives in the set piece where Matt Graham had a very good aerial game in the lineouts and kick-offs. Other players to stand out for North Harbour were No 8 Max Holland who tackled well and took the ball up well. Flankers Filipo Alofosio and Viliami Siaki had very high work rates, they were tireless in defence causing turnovers and ruthless on attack, especially Viliami who took the ball well from kick-off and made several good bursts up field.

Replacement halfback Jarrod Soar played well in the 2nd half and winger Michael Lee showed good speed in cover defence and winger Ethan McGuire showed good vision showing up in defence and making several good runs on attack.

This North Harbour side are showing huge signs of improvement and the team is led very well by Evan Marshall and is not far away from their first win of the season.

NORTH HARBOUR v BAY OF PLENTY, 13.9.08.

North Harbour 13, Bay of Plenty 24, HT score 8-17.
Point Scorers: R Mills, E McGuire Tries, G Anscombe 1 Pen

Bay of Plenty beat North Harbour 24-13 at Harvey Wright Park, Northcote RFC. North Harbour played well in the first 15 minutes with a series of attacks but they couldn’t penetrate the Bay of Plenty defence. Bay of Plenty were penalised for killing the ball resulting in a penalty to Gareth Anscombe to lead 3-0 after 15 minutes. North Harbour then scored an outstanding try. North Harbour pounced on a loose ball, fed to 1st Five Gareth Anscombe who brilliantly wrong footed 4 Bay of Plenty defenders who then unselfishly fed to wing Michael Lee to score for North Harbour to led 8-3 after 25 minutes, but the lead very was short lived with 2 quick tries in 3 minutes to Bay of Plenty. One was a cruel bounce from a midfield chip kick bouncing away from the 2 Harbour covering defenders into a Bay of Plenty players arms, the other a lack of defence on the blindside lead to the Bays 2nd try only moments later. In the final few minutes of the 1st half Bay of Plenty made some strong bursts up the midfield only for the final pass to go astray.

Half Time score Bay of Plenty 17 North Harbour 8.

After a good period of play by North Harbour they then scored their second try of the match. From a scrum move, the ball was then chipped ahead for Ethan McGuire to gather round his bootlaces to score an outstanding try.  This closed the gap to Bay of Plenty 17 North Harbour 13. Harbour then waved a series of attacks; they had their chances to score but turned the ball over in costly situations again. Then Bay of Plenty scored their only try of the 2nd half from a blunder by North Harbour close to their own line. A defensive 5 metre scrum saw North Harbour turn the ball over, Bay of Plenty then simply spun the ball and scored a try with an overlap out wide making the final score: Bay of Plenty 24 North Harbour 13

This was an improved North Harbour side from last week, competing well in the tackled ball area but once again at vital time’s turnover and aimless kicking cost the team dearly. The team will have to improve again if they are to gain their first win of the season against Counties Manukau next Saturday.

Players to mention were Richard Mills who ran strongly with the ball, Gareth Anscombe directed play very well at 1st five, and Ethan McGuire and Michael Lee were prominent with strong running and defence. Flanker Viliami Siale also made an impact both in defence and attack when he came on in the 2nd half.

NORTH HARBOUR v WAIKATO, 6.9.08.

North Harbour 0, Waikato 27, HT score 0-8.
Waikato beat North Harbour 27-0 on a fine, sunny but windy day at the Te Awamutu Sports Club.

North Harbour played with the wind in the 1st half and it was even in the first 20 minutes but turnovers proved costly for the visitors.  North Harbour would get themselves in a position to score points but at critical times took wrong options or would turn the ball over and end up 50 metres down field from an opposition clearing kick.

North Harbour put themselves under pressure with misdirected cross kicks resulting in Waikato’s first try to lead 5-0 after 25 minutes and then a penalty right on half time made the half time score: Waikato 8 North Harbour 0

In the 2nd half Waikato played with the wind, played a good kicking game and controlled the game well from 1st five. Waikato outplayed North Harbour in the collision area, they played with more passion, intensity and was hungrier at the breakdown. Waikato upped the pace of the game scoring 3 more tries with the final score: Waikato 27 North Harbour 0

For some of these players this was the first experience of representative rugby and the players will learn from this match. Positives to come out of the game were the set phase play in both scrums and lineouts with Matt Graham and William Lloyd stealing opposition ball.  In the Loose Forwards Kane Moors tackled well and in the backs Scott Siaki made a few good midfield breaks and Michael Lee read play well from the back making many spot tackles on defence

NORTH HARBOUR v NORTHLAND, 30.8.08.

North Harbour 21, Northland 10
Point Scorers: Max Holland 2, Jamie Cameron Tries, Phillipe McConnell 2, Richard Mills 1 Con.

Congratulations to the following players who have been selected in the 2008 North Harbour Under 18 representative team.

Forwards	Club/School
Richard Wasley	Marist RFC
Liam Brown	Rangitoto College
Jamie Cameron	Marist RFC
Josh Duley	Westlake Boys High School
Evan Marshall	Silverdale RFC
Richard Haddon	Rosmini College
William Lloyd	Silverdale RFC
Matt Graham	Rangitoto College
Filipo Alefosio	Rosmini College
Kane Moors	Massey High School
Viliami Siale	Birkenhead College
Bryce Steel	Kaipara College
Max Holland	North Shore RFC
Luatangi Li	Massey High School
Backs
Jarod Soar	Westlake Boys High School
Matt Cochrane	Rangitoto College
Kieran Menzies	Westlake Boys High School
Gareth Anscombe	Rosmini College
Phillipe McConnell	Orewa College
Ben Ryan	Rosmini College
Scott Siaki	Rosmini College
Michael Lee	Rangitoto College
Chris Winks	Westlake Boys High School
Richard Mills	Rangitoto College
Ethan McGuire	Orewa College
David McMurtrie	East Coast Bays RFC
Management
Head Coach	Graham Lowe
Coach	Colin McMurtrie
Coach	Lewis McClintock
Manager	Tony Lucas
Physio	Fraser Wilkins
Trainer	Nick Webb
Trainer	Adam Godfrey