North Harbour made enough of the early impact but Hawke's Bay showed why they are the Ranfurly Shield holders by fighting back late to win their ITM Cup Championship match 28-25 in Albany last night.
If it wasn't for a spill by Magpies hooker Ged Robinson in the final movement of play, the visitors could well have stolen the match after responding well to a 25-3 deficit early in the second half.
North Harbour look to have finally struck a vein of form under new coach Steve Jackson. The result will leave them with renewed hope with two games left in the regular season.
Since the competition became the ITM Cup, Harbour's performances have looked more like a move among the outside backs, ranked 11 to 13 to 14 to 14. If the current form - three wins in four games - continues, they will make the Championship semifinals.
Jackson can take credit for starting to unlock a vault of talent which sometimes gave the impression of being Fort Knox. However, their skill levels dropped as the match wore on and the defence became threadbare. Three games in eight days took its toll.
Hawke's Bay's resilience was effective and the strength of their forward pack was matched by the direction of first-five Ihaia West, who put them in the right places in the second half.
Harbour's moves had the precision of a training exercise against ghost opposition in the first half as they linked perfect choreography from the set piece.
Harbour's lineout was the star. Hooker James Parsons' throwing was accurate and Gerard Tuioti-Mariner proved reliable. From such a strong platform, first-five Matt McGahan directed astutely and his set-up was outstanding, throwing the ball wide to openside flanker Josh Blucher who released Matt Vaega for a try.
The hosts' scrambling defence was also impressive, even after a bulldozer-like Hawke's Bay centre Robbie Fruean broke the line. The team effort to sandbag against Fruean underlined their hunger. Robbie Robinson's ankle tap of West was another highlight.
There were awkward moments midway through the second half. Hawke's Bay scored two quick tries, bringing them back into the game at 25-15. Fruean's effort came from a dropped pass when Harbour had sacrificed any last line of defence and Ellery Wilson also found the Harbour loose trio wanting on the blindside.
North Harbour 28 (L. Devcich, M. Vaega, M. McGahan tries; McGahan 2 cons, 3 pens), Hawke's Bay 25 (B. Edmonds, E. Wilson, R. Fruean tries; I. West con, 2 pens, M. Berquist con). Halftime: 18-3.
