Taramai hoping to spark North Harbour to semi-final victory

Above: Murphy Taramai (black headgear) celebrating a try in last year's Hardham Cup final between his Upper Hutt Rams club and Johnsonville. Photo by Hugh Pretorius. 

If there was a 3,2,1 best and fairest competition for the Men’s NPC it’s a good bet that North Harbour’s Murphy Taramai would be featuring strongly.

Heading into this Saturday afternoon’s NPC Championship semi-final, Taramai has started at No. 8 in all 10 of North Harbour’s matches. In fact up until last weekend’s 44-28 win over Northland he had played every minute of every match before having a spell on the kauri. “I came off early last weekend for the first time for a bit of a rest,” Taramai enthused.

He’s been one of North Harbour’s best forwards this season and the statistics back this up. In carries, only Canterbury’s Luke Whitelock (144 carries) and Auckland’s Akira Ioane (136) have got through more work with ball in hand than Taramai (120).

The player himself is just grateful to be getting a good run off the back of Harbour’s scrum.

“I love playing No. 8, there are more opportunities to get involved and play with the ball. With Connor Collett and Glen Preston the flankers, we’re working well together and complementing each other’s skills. We get on really well off the field, which shows on the field.”

Taramai and Collett were involved in North Harbour’s match-sealing try against Northland on Sunday, a sweeping long-range counter-attack that concluded with Taramai acting as the final link in the movement by popping a pass in the tackle up to try-scorer Collett.

Needless to say he’s excited about playing against Wellington at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

“This is probably the game that I didn’t think would happen, but it has and I’m proud to be playing against my own province.

“It will be good to play in front of my family, which is always a big bonus too – it’s like a home game,” said the former Upper Hutt College student and New Zealand Sevens player.

On Saturday, North Harbour will be playing in their first playoff of any sort for the first time since contesting the quarterfinals of a previous NPC competition format in 2006.

Taramai played a typically bustling match when the two teams met in round-robin play back in round three in Wellington. North Harbour out-scored the Lions two tries to nil but Jackson Garden-Bachop kicked seven penalties and the hosts won 21-17.

“We’ve got to keep our discipline on Saturday. Jackson showed that he can kick the penalties from anywhere so we need to restrict his opportunities and also keep playing together as a team and we can have a chance.”

A log-jam of quality loose forwards in Wellington made North Harbour’s offer to move up their way at the start of this year on a two-year deal an attractive one.

“The opportunity arose to come up here and put my hand up for fifteens rugby. He joined the Northcote club. “I played the first half of the season but then I got injured [calf] and came back for the club playoffs.”

Playing alongside former Lions and Wellington Sevens teammate Afa Fa’atau at Northcote, he helped them beat higher ranked East Coast Bays 13-10 in their championship quarter-final before falling 39-41 to Takapuna in a semi-final thriller the following week.

After a full NPC campaign, which he hopes will extend beyond this weekend, Taramai is keeping his immediate playing options open. He hasn’t, as yet, been offered a Super Rugby deal.

“Playing Super Rugby is definitely the goal, but I am just focusing on North Harbour at the moment and then I’ll let anything else take care of itself.”

What about a possible return to sevens over the summer? “Sevens could be an option; otherwise I might rest up and get ready for next year.” The Upper Hutt Rams would certainly welcome him back as a guest player in the Club Sevens Nationals in early February, should they qualify from Wellington.

“I miss the boys back at Upper Hutt, but I have made a new set of brothers up here who have been really good to me as well.”

Taramai has also got a lot going on away from rugby. “I started an electrical apprenticeship when I moved up here at the start of this year. When I am not playing rugby I am doing that.”

If he continues to play well on Saturday it could be lights out for the Wellington Lions, who are looking to arrest a three-match losing streak including consecutive 50-point losses to Manawatu and Taranaki.