• The Thunder dismantled Northland on Saturday
• Corina Nanai crossed the whiteline on four occassions
• The Thunder next face Counties Manukau

The Auckland Thunder continued their bright start on Saturday, overpowering Northland 67-22 in Whangarei. The win was built on the back of phases executed at speed by a dominant forward pack and completed by great finishing from the backline.

Wing Corina Nanai’s four tries, two in each half, bore testimony to that. Receiving ball on the right side edge with space to operate in, Nanai showed smart footwork and a hunger for the line that never wavered until the final whistle.

The space the wings thrived on was most often the result of the frequent backline incursions of fullback Melodie Katipa. Young midfield backs Sapphire Abraham and Grace Freeman, showed mature decision making beyond their years and allied with their obvious talent, played a big part in ensuring the ball found the team's finishers.

The game wasn't all one way traffic, with Northland having bright spots either side of half time. After turning around with a 24-12 halftime lead Auckland went off the boil for the first 20 minutes of the second stanza, allowing Northland to trade tryscoring with them.  At 34-22 Northland looked to be gaining ascendency before No.8 Clementine Varea picked the ball up from the back of a scrum on halfway and brushed aside multiple would be tacklers on her way to the try line.

Varea backed that try up with another one soon after, this time on the end of some good passing between multiple team members. That touchdown opened the floodgates, as Auckland’s superior fitness and ability to maintain structure overran Northland’s defence.

While the youngest member of the squad, halfback Moana Cook, had delivered speedy ball in the first half before confidently moving to first five, her replacement Ruki Izumi ramped the pace up even further at the back end of the game, collecting two tries in the process.

It was up front however, where the foundation for the victory was built. Captain Mel Williams dominated at tighthead prop and bent the defensive line on every carry.

Seventeen year old  prop/hooker Camryn Hoeft-Asekona also exhibited a high work rate and was rewarded for her support work with a try.

Behind them, flankers Jodi Losch and Regina Tupusoa and locks Ima Tavaga and Ahea Langi exhibited big engines, getting through a ton of work on both sides of the ball.

Fittingly, frontrower Gen Cockburn put an exclamation mark on the forwards effort by scoring the final try.

While the win was a significant step forward, the talented squad will be looking for further improvement in their match against Counties Manukau this Saturday.

Auckland 67 (C.Nanai (4), C. Varea (2), R. Izumi (2), C. Hoeft-Asekona (1), G. Cockburn (1), S. Abraham (1) tries; S. Abraham (2) G. Freeman (4) conversions)

Northland 22