Big guns flirt with relegation
Auckland, Waikato slip again
Auckland and Waikato sit in serious danger of relegation from the premiership after both sides stumbled to championship opponents in week six of the national provincial championship.
Both sides fell to opponents shaping as the key contenders to replace them in Otago and Wellington, respectively.
Waikato fell victim to yet another dominant showing by Wellington, who won 34-10 in Hamilton.
It was a second half demolition that helped the Lions carve off
their sixth win in seven matches after the teams went into the break with the scores level.
Exciting young hooker Asafo Aumua was back on the scoresheet yet again.
Auckland’s woes came in the form of a 34-26 loss to Otago in
Dunedin on Thursday.
It was Otago’s first win over Auckland since 2013 and was built on some impressive defence.
But Nick White’s Aucklanders were mistake prone – unexceptable considering the match was played under the roof of Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Otago wing Jona Nareki picked up his second try early in the second half to put Otago ahead 29-14, where the match remained for much of the remainder until a flurry of scoreboard action late.
Counties Manukau also remain in relegation zone after they failed to put away Bay of Plenty in Tauranga yesterday.
Their 31-31 draw was fitting of a match that swung back and forth throughout.
Bay of Plenty started with complete dominance, but they let Counties Manukau fight their way into the match.
Down 17-14 at the break, the Steelers were soon after looking comfortable at 24-17 on the back of two quick tries.
But they allowed Bay of Plenty to pull back in front, before Counties Manukau levelled the scores with five minutes to play.
Mike Delany had two chances to steal the win for the Steamers, but missed his penalty and dropped goal.
It was Bay of Plenty’s second match of the round after they demolished a woeful Southland outfit 57-0 in Rotorua on Wednesday.
Two first-half yellow cards saw Elliot Dixon sent for an early shower as the relentless Steamers scored nine tries.
Canterbury reminded the competition why they are competition favourites as they handed North Harbour their first loss of the season 41-28.
Trailing by 11 at the half, Canterbury were dominant in the second half.
Manawatu¯ found their form late as they beat Northland 39-25 in
Palmerston North on Friday night.
The Turbos had been messy for much of the match, but they turned on a strong final 12 minutes as they raced away with the match.
Taranaki followed the theme of second-half dominance as they cruised to a 48-17 over Hawke’s Bay in Napier on Saturday.
They scored four second-half tries as they broke a 44-year drought in Napier.
Tasman closed out the weekend by handing out more punishment on Southland, 50-17 in Nelson yesterday. It was the fifth time in seven matches that Southland conceded more than 40 points.