Ex-Auckland prop Renata helping Northland strengthen up their set piece

Friday night in Whangarei, Northland whitewashed Taranaki 42-0, the first time since 1980 they held a Division 1 NPC opponent scoreless.

Taranaki was also the opponent the last time Northland challenged for the Ranfurly Shield. In 2025, the Taniwha tumbled 23-3 in New Plymouth.

Tighthead prop Marcel Renata played 76 games for Auckland between 2015 and 2024, winning an NPC Premiership in 2018. Since 2025, he’s appeared seven times in five wins for Northland but remarkably has never challenged for the Ranfurly Shield.

“In 2024 I was supposed to have a crack for Auckland when we challenged Tasman but I got ill before the game. I travelled with the team to Nelson but was too sick to play, so I stayed in the hotel the whole time,” Renata told RugbyPass.

“Last year I was injured again. It was a disappointing challenge. We didn’t even score a try. I feel like we were just getting to know each other. It was a very new team that had barely figured it out. This year feels a lot different.”

Northland were big improvers in 2025, winning five matches, their best showing since 2022. They held champions Canterbury to a 19-19 draw. The Taniwha scored the most maul tries, had the most scrum penalties, and conceded the least.

In the 42-0 demolition of Taranaki, 32-year-old Renata set the tone, crushing experienced opponent and fellow Maori All Black Jarrod Profft, who has played 93 games for Taranaki and 37 for the Chiefs. The first two scrums led to Northland penalties and the hosts secured a tighthead. Ross Wright (123 games) has made a quick impression as a new forwards coach.

“He’s a strong lad who’s given it to me plenty of times. I tried to stay level-headed and go back”, Renata said.

“Most of the credit for the scrum belongs to our second row. They’re workhorses who just keep going. What a game from Lachie Hooper, three tries and a charge down after 20 seconds. We’ve got three Australians in our squad. They’ve been a breath of fresh air and really embraced our culture, which includes a lot of Maori, learning the language and even practising the haka for milestones.”

A growing number of Aussie-born players have joined the NPC, rising from 15 last year to 27 in 2026.

A noticeable boost has also occurred in the quality of Northland’s set-piece. The Taniwha are often renowned for being a flamboyant team lacking substance up
front. Renata, with 57 wins in 81 games for the Blues in Super Rugby Pacific, including a title in 2024, and 18 appearances for the Maori All Blacks, has been around the block.

“Set piece has been a real focus for us. We’ve got plenty of firepower out wide. The challenge is getting the ball to them,” Renata admitted.

“We’re so lucky to have Sam Nock and Rivez Reihana running the cutter. They’ve got 146 NPC games between them. Rivez played with the Crusaders and has given us valuable insight into what Canterbury will bring on Thursday. If you put Nock in the All Blacks, he’d slot right in. He’s class and has been for years.

“I decided to leave Auckland because I’d had a dozen years with the same boys in the same environment. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and embrace a different challenge. It’s more grassroots up here. There are some awesome characters and I feel like I’m still hungry and learning.”

Northland will have to be hungry and clinical to roll Canterbury, whose Ranfurly Shield record is 155 wins in 204 matches, three wins short of Auckland’s all-time record of 158 wins in 204 matches. Northland have 17 wins in 51 matches, with the last four tenures in 1978 when the All Blacks won the Grand Slam for the first time and Night Fever by the Bee Gees was the rage.

Northland haven’t beaten Canterbury since a 27-20 win at Okara Park in 1999. In 2000, they challenged Canterbury for the Ranfurly Shield, bravely falling 28-22 after two tries from Fijian international Fero Lasagavibau were offset by two tries from All Black Justin Marshall and better goal-kicking by the holders. Northland’s last success in Christchurch was 27-7 in 1987. All Blacks brothers Kawhena and Fred Woodman scored tries on the wings. In 2025 Northland held Canterbury to a 19-19 draw.

“We’re not reading too much into that result,” Renata said. “It was pretty much a development team they sent.”

“It will be interesting to see where we’re at. Obviously they’re the defending champions for a reason. We’re focusing on us; nailing our roles and executing the game plan will give us our best shot.”

Northland first won the Ranfurly Shield in 1950, when they defeated South Canterbury. In 1960 and 1971, they beat Auckland. All three victories came under the coaching of the legendary Ted Griffin, who, in 21 seasons, coached Northland (then North Auckland) in 213 matches
for 127 wins, 15 draws and 71 losses, scoring 3219 points and conceding 2215. Against bitter rivals, Auckland Northland won 21, drew five and lost 16 matches.

Northland’s last successful challenge for the Shield was a 12-10 win against Manawatu on September 12, 1978, ending Manawatu’s 13-defence tenure in Palmerston North.

Stuart “Chippy” Semenoff kicked four penalties in a controversial affair where it was alleged William “Bill” Adlam lost count of the time and prolonged the match well beyond 80 minutes.

Northland’s captain in 1978 was All Blacks hooker and future Crusaders and Blues Super Rugby winning coach Peter Sloane. The coach was All Black halfback and insurance broker Lindsay Townsend, who won 31 of 61 games. Townsend won the Shield as a player with Otago in 1957.

Northland’s head coach in 2026, Ryan Martin, is originally from Otago; he captained the Otago Boys’ High School First XV from halfback in 1998, which won the National Top Four with Richie McCaw on the openside. After a decorated tenure coaching at his former school, where he won 94 out of 100 competition games and 48 out of 55 inter-school fixtures, he won the Shield as an assistant coach of Otago.

Meanwhile, Northland Stadium is named after Stuart’s cousin Stan Semenoff, a former Northland mayor and an owner of the freight company