Auckland carries on curse at Eden Park

By WYNNE GRAY

AUCKLAND 42 SOUTHLAND 19

The standard was not flash and there was no lack of discussion points as Auckland continued the Eden Park curse they have held over Southland since the start of World War II.

Auckland have eased into the slipstream behind the top four, with their route to the semifinals to be judged on their success against Bay of Plenty, Northland and Canterbury.

At Eden Park yesterday they built their victory on a robust defence and some frothy attack where Orene Ai'i was a central figure.

The five-eighths also helped Southland with two of their tries when his passes were intercepted.

Auckland's attack could be admired and questioned. Some of it was dazzling, other parts over-elaborate, while the tactical kicking was often marginal.

If they can continue to score seven tries as they did yesterday, then they will give the playoffs a shake. But if they have to rely on goal-kicking they will be in trouble.

"We need to be kicking more goals obviously," coach Wayne Pivac said. "It is what we will be working on and trying to do, but at the moment it is definitely a problem for us."

Ben Atiga goaled one from four attempts and Ai'i two from five in a repeat erratic display. Brent Ward was used in earlier games, but abandoned, although Pivac dismissed the idea of loosehead prop Nick White being asked to do the job.

The Auckland lineout was dominant and Bryce Williams and Justin Collins cut off several of the visitors' throws. Auckland also had a strong scrum and they significantly reduced their turnover errors.

Returning flanker Daniel Braid was a class act, like most of the All Blacks who played in their latest round of the NPC, but he will not be available again.

There is also continuing doubt about the return of midfield back Sam Tuitupou. He has a shoulder problem, the type of injury which Collins repaired in a few days but which took Charlie Riechelmann nine months to recover from.

"All the sides that won at the weekend, their senior players stood up and we talked about that," Pivac said. "We put a lot of onus on our senior players to do the same thing.

"I think we did that spasmodically. Obviously, we did not play as well as we would have liked. Again, we loosened up, but I don't think Southland played that well, to be honest, and [they] allowed us to get a few soft tries."

Southland travelled north with a strong public scent about a famous victory.

But coach Phil Young suggested that his side had been flat in their lead-up to the game - they had underestimated the intensity they needed to bring to the contest.

Auckland had started fast and hard, they had knocked Southland over in close and accrued a handy lead. Defeated skipper Steve Jackson had been impressed by the way Auckland talked through their defensive patterns all game.

His side was unseated after 40 seconds when A'i badly sliced a clearing kick, but it was gathered by Iliesa Tanivula who managed to run 80m for a bizarre try.

Minutes later Ai'i had a pass intercepted and Southland drew level. From there Auckland pulled away.

Ward scored after neat offloads in tackles from David Gibson, Braid and then Ai'i's dancing footwork created space, while Tanivula had a double near the interval.

After building to a 22-7 lead at the break, two pieces of Auckland magic shone out.

Southland kept possession for what seemed an age, but battled to puncture Auckland's defence.

Finally it seemed that they had when fullback Graydon Staniforth reached over the line.

But before he could plant the ball he was suspended in a desperate tackle from Ward and dragged back from the chalkline. On attack, a set scrum move from Auckland worked to precision.

As replacement halfback Craig McGrath ran wide from the scrum, No 8 Xavier Rush passed to Ai'i, who switched from the open to blind, hit the gap between McGrath and his captain and forced his way to the line.

It was training-ground perfection, but that joy was tempered when Ai'i missed the conversion. That is Auckland rugby at the moment.

NPC points table