Auckland hang tough to secure place in final
ALAMA Ieremia’s Aucklanders did it the hard way, but held their nerve when it mattered against a gritty Waikato side to win through to their second Mitre 10 Cup Premiership final in the last three years.
The Aucklanders never found the fluency and rhythm that is a hallmark of their game at its best, but hung tough against a concerted Mooloo challenge and made a couple of big defensive plays in the final few minutes to seal a nerve-racking 23-18 semifinal victory at Eden Park.
A two-try burst early in the second half by midfielders Tanielu Tele’a and Tumua Manu got the Aucklanders’ noses in front, after they had trailed 15-11 at the break, and from there it came down to two huge breakdown plays to seal the deal.
Flanker Adrian Choat and replacement lock Jack Whetton both won huge relieving penalties in the last three minutes to thwartWaikato in their search for a late, gamewinning try, and Whetton’s at the death, on the back of a Quinn Tupaea breakout, was especially
vital as the Mooloos swarmed for the late strike.
Auckland will host the final this Saturday. The union has announced that entry will be free for the championship game, as it was in 2018 when they defeated Canterbury in a thrilling finale that went into extra time.
Auckland got a big performance out of their scrum, while Choat was excellent around the park and Whetton made a big impact off the bench late. Tele’a, Manu and Jonathan Ruru were the pick of the home backs, while Salesi Rayasi looked dangerous, too, as he increased his competitionleading try tally to 14.
Waikato’s effort was stout and committed, and they battled well, led by veteransAdam Thomson and Liam Messam up front, and a strong showing from
Tupaea in midfield. But they just couldn’t make the plays that mattered in the closing stages.
Auckland left themselves with plenty to do after an unconvincing first 40.
The home side combined some aimless kicking, poor handling and a less than convincing defensive effort to gift the visitors a series of firsthalf opportunities they were only too happy to snap up. Not even a big show from the Auckland scrum was enough to rattle the busy Mooloos.
Waikato struck first when a lucky deflection off Matty Lansdown’s clearance fell into Fletcher Smith’s hands and with some help from Tupaea and Hamilton Burr, and some rather ineffective Auckland tackling, hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho was over in the right corner for the 5-0 lead.
Veteran flanker Thomson then converted a dropped ball by home prop Jarrad Adams in midfield into a run to the line and the 38-year-old loosie turned in an acrobatic finish for a 12-6 lead.
Auckland did conjure one try just past the first-quarter mark when a nice breakout from
Tele’a earned a handy penalty and the lineout option was converted into Rayasi’s 14th try of the season, courtesy of a classy offload from Jonathan Ruru.
No doubt Auckland coach Ieremia reminded his side at halftime about the necessity of ball retention and patience, and that was soon obvious as the home side exploded into the lead, 23-15, with a pair of tries in the first dozen minutes.
Tele’a had the first, just a couple of minutes after the restart, when he jinked over after his side had worked seven phaseswith the requisite
patience and Harry Plummer popped the pass to put his No 12 into space.
And fellow midfielder Manu made it 23-15 eight minutes later when he raced away to finish a breakout keyed by Plummer’s wide pass and some excellent work from Rayasi, Zarn Sullivan and Ruru down the left touchline.
Beaudein Waaka got Waikato within striking distance with his second penaltymidway through the half, but from there the visitors just could not summon the accuracy required to steal the result.