Rugby Talk with John McKittrick
3 September 2009
Ben Botica's 22 points on a starting debut for QBE Insurance North Harbour would be reason for the Harbour faithful to celebrate but close to full time Southland nailed a try to give them a deserved 24-22 victory. Some may disagree but when you are outscored four tries to one it is hard to argue the home cause. Harbour is so close it is bordering on frustrating. Rest assured it is not lack of effort on behalf of the players, it just comes down to poor option taking at crucial times. Former Harbour and All Black legend Frank Bunce wrote an interesting article in one of the Sunday papers which made great reading. Have faith in Dowdy and Wilson, they have a lot of combined knowledge and it is just patience in the structures that are required. The easy option would be to press the panic button. What a lot of people fail to realise is the average age of the Harbour side is twenty two and a half whereas a side like Southland average twenty five. Two and half years of playing experience at provincial level is huge. The secret for Harbour is to keep this squad together over the next few years. Results will be forthcoming.
Monday saw the Harbour boys hit the central city in support of the SPCA Cup Cake Day. It showed the togetherness of the squad in trying times that they were all present in downtown Auckland by 7am doing their bit for such a worthwhile cause.
Friday night in New Plymouth sees Harbour take on the mighty Taranaki. Tony Woodcock has been released by the All Black coaching staff and will make a welcome appearance at loosehead for Harbour. This could be just the lift the boys need. With such a congested points table it will only take a couple of good wins to help the Harbour cause. Don't forget Harbour is at home at 2.35pm on Saturday afternoon next weekend against Hawkes Bay. Finally it’s the opportunity to play Saturday afternoon rugby.
The Harbour 2nd XV are back in business this weekend playing curtainraiser to the Bay of Plenty vs Canterbury game in Tauranga. The under 20's who won first up against Northland but then crashed to Waikato last weekend are at home at Windsor Park to Counties, with kick off scheduled for 1pm. The under 18's open their competition with an away game against Counties in Bombay whilst the Under 16's are similarly away to Thames Valley at Thames. The Secondary School Girls side are also away to their Auckland counterparts, playing at Western Springs.
Those people lucky enough to have secured tickets for next Saturday night’s Springbok test in Hamilton are in for a great spectacle. There’s nothing like being in a sold out ground. Although the Tri Nations is out of reach the opportunity to get one back on the Boks will make for great viewing.