Northland retain Rafurly Shield over Tasman
- 4 hours ago
- 1 min read
Northland have retained the Ranfurly Shield after holding off Tasman 20-10 in front of a roaring Semenoff Stadium crowd in Whangarei, their first Shield defence in 47 years.
After an intense first half finished 10-all the second half became a territory battle.
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Eventually Northland tapped and went, with Sam Nock and the forwards repeatedly getting close Nock eventually released to to captain Rivez Reihana, who hit the gap and crashed through to score beside the posts in the 76th minute.
The try effectively sealed the win for Northland.
Earlier a Reihana penalty from in front in the 70th minute finally broke the deadlock, but Northland weren’t done there. With Tasman pinned back inside their own half with the Taniwhat pack suffocating Tasman of opportunities..
Tasman hooker scored first crossing after 17 minutes with William Havili converting and later adding a penalty.
In the meantime Northland fullback Jordan Trainor scored for the home side with Reihana converting and kicking a penalty on his way to a game total of 15 points.
Northland are in the unfamiliar territory of four wins from five games in second place on the NPC ladder and holding the Ranfurly Shield.
Tasman have three wins and two losses sitting in mid-table.
Northland put the Shiled on the line in a couple of weeks against Waikato.
