Otago slumps to third straight loss
Special Correspondent Auckland:

Too many unforced errors and some questionable options saw Otago crash to what could prove to be a critical loss in this year's National Provincial Championship against North Harbour at Albany on Saturday night.

Harbour, outplayed for much of the second spell and struggling against a 15-2 penalty count from Wellington referee Lyndon Bray, managed to limit Otago to just two penalties in this period for an 18-14 win. Otago has now lost all three of its opening matches in the NPC round-robin and faces an uphill battle if it is to make the play-offs, and the chance of hosting a home semifinal at Carisbrook may well have gone already. Coach Kevin Gloag has had to make do with a badly depleted line-up for the first two rounds because of commitments to the All Blacks. But while a number of the test players returned for Saturday night, the side only improved marginally. Gloag admitted later the pressure was on Otago now for the rest of the season and the next three or four weeks would be especially crucial in regaining confidence. "We have to win every game from now on, there's no doubt about that", he said.

The trouble is that Otago faces a number of difficult matches, even with the advantage of being at full strength. In particular, it faces three formidable opponents in away matches: Canterbury in Christchurch (September 30), Auckland in Auckland (October 7) and the dangerous, much improved Taranaki in New Plymouth (September 16). But Otago's immediate target is Counties-Manakau at Carisbrook next Saturday, a match in which Gloag, for the first time this year, should be able to call on a full complement of players. He said Taine Randell will definitely be available and expects Carl Hoeft and Tony Brown to be over their injuries. Wing Brendan Laney received nine stitches to a cut above the eye after colliding with Harbour's Slade McFarland on Saturday night but he, too, should be right.

Otago started superbly against Harbour and it seemed it would go on to play with some of the marvellous authority of two years ago, when it swept to the NPC title. An excellent backline movement in which fullback James Jowsey and wing Hayden Reid starred, saw Reid score after only one minute. That, however, was to be Otago's only try of the match, which was played in good conditions, even though the Auckland region endured torrential downpours during the afternoon. Ironically, one of the chief contributors to Otago's first-half problems was Jowsey, who had played such a key role in Reid's try. Harbour exploited the fact he was limited to kicking with just the left foot and a number of deftly placed punts sapped his confidence.

Harbour, through the cleverness of veteran second five-eighths Walter Little, quickly equalised through a try by wing Aisea Tullevu and gained a second try to take a 18-8 half-time lead. This came when Marc Ellis tried an up-and-under on Jowsey. The kick went too far and should have been easily taken, but Jowsey dropped it and then failed to regain the ball, for Harbour centre Scott Adams to put openside flanker Matua Parkinson over for the try. Early in the second spell, South African import Justin Swart took over from Jowsey and there was a sudden change in the game's pattern. In the first spell, Harbour's young loose forwards, Parkinson and Craig Newby, had been consistently faster to the loose ball and the breakdowns and the home side had a clear edge. But helped by a huge number of penalties in its favour,

Otago's dominance of the second spell was marked, though the only real incisiveness shown came when youngster Josh Blackie came on as a replacement for Josh Kronfeld with 20 minutes left. In the second spell, Otago declined a number of penalty shots at goal, electing instead to go for the corners for attacking line-outs. Gloag confirmed afterwards this had been from his off-field instructions. But it had to be wondered whether this was the right course, given that the Otago line-out had problems throughout the match, with thrower Anton Oliver and his jumpers never in harmony.

Even though it was not what he would call a fantastic win, Harbour coach Wayne Shelford was satisfied his side had bounced back well from its poor effort in the previous week against Canterbury. The defence had been resolute and former Wallaby prop Rod Moore and hooker McFarland, in his 100th game for the union, has brought more stability to the scrum. The Otago development team surrendered an early 6-0 lead to be well beaten by North Harbour 29-12 in a national second XV match at Albany on Saturday night. The well-drilled Harbour side capitalised on some weak tackling to gain two first-spell tries and then stretched its lead through the accurate boot of Harbour's Darren Robson. Harbour has been unbeaten in the three matches it has played in this competition.