Auckland step towards safety with crushing win Cantabs move to top of table
Auckland have taken a big step towards avoiding relegation, climbing off the bottom of the Premiership table with a dominant display over Bay of Plenty.
Auckland ran in four tries to secure a crucial 38-19 bonus-point victory yesterday at Eden Park, moving to 17 points on the table to leapfrog Counties-Manukau and Waikato in the standings with two games remaining.
Making his first start of the season, New Zealand sevens flyer Joe Ravouvou bagged a double in the opening 10 minutes with Vince Aso and Melani Nanai adding tries in the second half.
But the win, only their third of the season, was built on a tremendous defensive display in the first Bay half as Bay of Plenty enjoyed 78 per cent territory, ending a difficult week on a positive note after coach Nick White announced he would step down at the end of the season.
Bay of Plenty arrived in Auckland knowing a win could have lifted them as high as second in the Championship.
But despite making more than 50 less tackles than their opposition, they struggled to capitalise on their opportunities until it was far too late and remain outside four on 18 points.
White had All Blacks coaching great Sir Graham Henry on hand at training this week and his magic clearly rubbed off on the players as they came out firing.
Although, it certainly helps when Ravouvou turned up in the mood he did. After Jono Hickey opened the scoring with a penalty, the big Fijian bagged a brace in five minutes as he cut the Bay defence to shreds.
The first try, a length of the field effort where he beat two defenders to score under the posts, was set up by a strong charge from loose forward Taleni Seu before a superb offload from Melani Nanai put him away for the second.
Leading 17-0, Auckland offered the Steamers a way back into the the top contest when prop Marcel Renata was sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements midway through the first half.
But, on one of the few occasions this season, the home team showed great resilience on their tryline to repel the visitors. What’s more, they actually outscored the visitors 3-0 while Renata was off the field.
They were lucky not to have another player sent to the bin – and concede a penalty try – when halfback Richard Judd had the ball knocked out of his hands at a ruck on Auckland’s line.
The Steamers had more reason to consider themselves unlucky when Judd had a try overturned by the TMO for a knock-on.
But credit had to go to Auckland’s defence, which never stopped turning up and laid the platform for their 23-0 halftime lead.
If Bay of Plenty were going to pull off an unlikely comeback they had to score first after the break.
But when it’s not your day, it’s not your day. Just three minutes in, they were on the receiving end of another questionable call as Vince Aso crossed off what appeared to be a clear forward pass from Seu.
The missed call overshadowed what was a brilliant run from Seu, who terrorised Bay of Plenty all day and was among Auckland’s best.
Aso then turned provider as he burst through midfield to set up Nanai for the bonus-point try.
The defence eventually broke in the 66th-minute when Henry Stowers barged over and Auckland conceded two more late tries.
But it was an impressive performance ahead of next week’s trip to Tasman, while Bay of Plenty travel to Otago needing to win to keep their semifinal hopes alive. Canterbury moved top of the standings in week five of the Farah Palmer Cup after thrashing Tasman 67-12 in Christchurch yesterday.
Counties Manukau, reigning champions of women’s provincial rugby, had a bye week as premiership sides dominated their championship counterparts in five crossover clashes.
There were also wins for Auckland, Wellington, Manawatu and Waikato in what’s become an increasingly tight premiership division.
Waikato are bottom on 15 points having won three and lost two but they trail second-placed Counties by just two points after beating Bay of Plenty, who are still runaway championship leaders despite their first defeat of the season.
Canterbury, who stunned Counties with a remarkable second half comeback last weekend to win 32-29 in Pukekohe, have climbed to 19 points at the premiership’s summit after retaining the JJ Stewart Trophy against Tasman, the women’s competition’s equivalent