Auckland, Canterbury lead way
Auckland joined Canterbury at the top of the Farah Palmer Cup’s premiership division after an emphatic win.
The Storm delivered a clinical 38-10 victory over Wellington at Auckland’s Eden Park yesterday, outscoring their opponents six tries to one.
Auckland and Canterbury sit tied for first place on 15 competition points, though the red-andblacks do have a game in hand over their rivals, who they trounced 45-12 a fortnight ago.
With Counties Manukau having the bye, defending champions Canterbury moved three points clear of them.
It was one-way traffic in Christchurch with Canterbury jumping out to a 40-7 lead by halftime. They endured a much tougher contest in the second, only scoring two more tries.
Bay of Plenty achieved a first win of the season, beating Waikato 26-21 and gaining a bonus point in the process.
In the Farah Palmer Cup championship section (bottom six) Otago and Hawke’s Bay remain unbeaten, and on 15 points, after taking bonus points from their games.
Otago crushed Tasman 58-15 with Trisha Hopcroft and Kiana Wereta both grabbing doubles in the win. Tasman were in the game at halftime, down 15-10, but conceded a whopping 43 points in the second half.
Hawke’s Bay thrashed Taranaki 74-0, notching 14 tries in the lopsided spectacle.
Ten different Hawke’s Bay players got on the scoresheet with Gemma Woods, Hanna Brough, Sylvia Bockman and Moomooga Palu all scoring braces.
And the big news was in the far north where competition newcomers Northland notched their first victory, bouncing back from a 14-6 halftime deficit to beat North Harbour 27-21.