After a great start, a spate of injuries saw Tasman go down 26-21 against Northland in the first of the NPC rugby quarterfinals in Whangarei.
The Mako was trying to win its first play-off match in four years and capitalised on Taniwha turnovers, especially at lineout time, to roar out to a 14-0 lead in first quarter.
Captain Johnny Lee scored in just the fourth minute and when impressive hooker Eli Oudenryn slipped a pass to wing Kyren Taumoefolau he grabbed his 19thtry of the season.
Kyren was a constant threat but the home side’s huge scrum was causing problems and the Mako lost both its props.
Monu Moli failed a head injury assessment and Ryan Coxon suffered a back problem.
It got worse when midfield general David Havili seriously injured his shoulder in making a tackle just before halftime.
Northland made the most of that with wing Brady Rush beating three tacklers to score his team’s first points.
And they struck again after the halftime hooter with Australian flanker Lachy Hooper unstoppable close to the line, to close the gap to 14-12.
The Mako had been kept scoreless in the second half in the Ranfurly Shield challenge in the far north in August and it was a struggle again tonight.
More scrum dominance gave Northland great field position and No.8 Terrell Peita barged over in the 51st minute to give the hosts the lead for the first time.
Loose forward Harry Horncastle subbed on for his debut with 15 minutes to play.
Tasman kept kicking away possession whereas Northland’s kicking game was more effective, leading to another try through forward grunt.
It was scored by replacement prop Ricki Heremaia, in the 74thminute, and the lead stretched to 26-14.
By then Kyren had limped off the field, ending his breakout season, but the Mako showed character to hit back.
Replacement hooker Dylan Irvine scored from a lineout drive to make it a five-point ball game with three minutes to play.
However a turnover ruled out a fairytale comeback and the Mako’s erratic campaign ended in the quarterfinals again.
Northland 26 (Brady Rush, Lachy Hooper, Terrell Peita and Riki Heremaia tries; Rivez Reihana three conversions) beat Tasman 21 (Johnny Lee, Kyren Taumoefolau and Dylan Irvine tries; William Havili three conversions).
