Auckland captain shows the way

By WYNNE GRAY

If Auckland needed an example to follow during the NPC final then captain Xavier Rush delivered it.

When his side visited Hamilton a month ago they were sorted out by the Waikato pack, they were beaten up. If Auckland were to continue their remarkable record since the playoffs started in 1992, of never losing if they made the grand final, they had to take the initiative. Apart from a wobble or two they did.

They looked grim during the national anthem while several Waikato players smiled and looked at ease about trying to emulate the deeds of their 1992 provincial champions. About 26,000 spectators crowded into the superb Waikato Stadium, most intent on encouraging Waikato home with their cowbells.

Some of the clang from those instruments stopped when Rush clobbered fullback Todd Miller in the opening minutes and they had almost fallen silent as Auckland jumped to a 20-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Rush's tackle was fierce but fair, he timed his tackle as Miller bravely held one of Carlos Spencer's precision punts. Miller was unhurt but Rush had given the follow-me, do-as-I-do, take-it-to-them statement and for most of the night his teammates did not deviate from that plan.

They never let Waikato settle, they took several opportunist tries, their defence was powerful, they were aggressive. Some of it was brutal, some was borderline but Auckland were not going to back down.

"It got a bit snakey at times, it was a bit like being back in France," loosehead prop Scott Palmer said. "A couple of our guys got cut up in the first half and they were too. It was okay after a couple of dustups."

Auckland lock Ali Williams went to the bin but so did his opposite Keith Robinson. There was no imbalance as referee Paddy O'Brien performed his soothing techniques.

Both sides kicked much more than they had in their pool match. There was much more at stake this time and it was a matter of trying to force mistakes.

Spencer's kicking brought far more pressure than that of Derek Maisey or Rhys Duggan. The Auckland five-eighths found prodigious length when he had to clear into the wind and his up-and-unders gave his teammates a chance to compete for the ball. That sort of pressure, the defensive gridlock and lineout presses caused Waikato to stumble. They coughed up three tries in 20 minutes.

That was the statistic which glowed in some of the pre-match supposition. Waikato and Auckland both had strong attacking games but Waikato leaked much more in defence.

After surrendering that start, Waikato captain Deon Muir ordered a penalty kick to touch. He had to gamble and centre Regan King glided into a gap from a Maisey skip pass.

Bruce Reihana's conversion and two quick penalties after some punishing midfield running from the impressive Keith Lowen had Auckland only holding a 20-16 lead at halftime.

After carving out a huge lead, coach Wayne Pivac later suggested at that stage some in his side "were playing their way out of the All Blacks".

But Kees Meeuws, a cast-iron certainty for that trip after another wow of a match, big boofer Bradley Mika and Rush smashed ahead after the interval to force another Waikato defensive lineout. The squeeze went on, the ball was overthrown and Rush, with a nifty step past Muir and surge past two other defenders, scored.

Waikato had to reply and had that chance as Spencer's control deserted him for about five minutes. He dropped out on the full and tried one desperate overhead clearing kick facing his own line, which went straight to Muir.

But it was Rush who saved when he interfered with Waikato possession and escaped with a just penalty for his professional foul.

Waikato coach Ian Foster believed Auckland were offside when they hunted Muir down and claimed "it was an obvious penalty try. Apart from that I thought they had a huge edge on us," he conceded.

That crisis averted, Auckland drew away when Doug Howlett scooped up a spilled pass and sprinted 80m for a converted try. At 32-16 the result was not going to change although Waikato produced two tries to sandwich another from Howlett.

"I thought it was one of our poorer defensive games," Auckland technical analyst Graham Henry suggested. "But we have had a number of big games in a row, we have played all the Super 12 franchises and I think that takes a toll.

"We were not quite on edge there but our heart was good."

The youthful rugby talent in Auckland had repaid the selection faith of coaches Wayne Pivac and Grant Fox. Of the starting XV, only four - Palmer, Meeuws, Spencer and Justin Collins - were over 25.

"It is like some of these guys are almost too young to know any fear," Fox said. "It was a bit like that against Canterbury where few of them had been through the eight losses beforehand.

"Nothing seems to faze them."

Pivac agreed the Waikato pool match had been the turning point. It had been appropriate they returned to Hamilton to exorcise that defeat. "These young guys have handled the occasion throughout the last month - they took on all the top sides and did the business."