Northland Colleges make mark on Secondary School Nationals

Takahiwai have secured the Minor Premiership with their 34 – 6 defeat of the Moerewa Tigers and there is still two weeks of the Premiership to play.  The Tigers at home, who were at full strength with Moerewa Rugby on a BYE, did test the Warriors, but Takahiwai showed their class to run away with the win.  Complacency will be the biggest hurdle standing in the way of Takahiwai in their lead into the finals series, as they face lowly rated Kerikeri then Horahora, finishing in first place means that they will also have the BYE in week one.

While Hikurangi Stags secured second place with a hard fought 8 – 6 win over the Otangarei Knights.  Defence was the order of the day in heavy conditions.  For the Stags, the win may have come at a heavy cost, as they lost inspirational Player/Coach Joe Rau, with a dislocated shoulder in the first 5 minutes.

The Hokianga Pioneers leap-frogged both Portland and Otangarei with their 26  – 20 defeat of Portland at Portland.  Portland were left ruing their chances, as they bombed three clear cut tries, in a match that could have gone either way.  Hokianga will have gained a lot of confidence with the win, while Portland will be questioning their ability to win the tight games as they have let a number of close ones slip away this year.

Hokianga sit one point behind Hikurangi, in what will be a close run for second place and the BYE in week one of the playoffs.  Hokianga have the easier of the two run-ins with Muriwhenua and Kerikeri, while the Stags, without Joe Rau, will be tested by the Northern Wairoa Bulls and the Moerewa Tigers.

The Bulls and the Tigers are fighting it out for 6^th place, on their day they can both defeat top of the table teams.  The Bulls put their 6^th place in jeopardy with their 26 – 24 loss to the Horahora Broncos.  However, the Bulls only need one more win to secure their place, but they have a tough run-in, but will also benefit with two home games, firstly with Hikurangi, then Portland in the last week.  The Tigers are also blessed with two consecutive home games, they should comfortably deal with Horahora and then it will all come down to the last match against Hikurangi.

So with two weeks to go in the RLN MultiKai Cooker Premiership placings 2 – 6 are all up for grabs.  Hikurangi, Hokianga, Otangarei and Portland are all competing for 2 – 5^th place, while Moerewa still have an outside chance of finishing in 6^th place.