Auckland romp into semifinals

By WYNNE GRAY

AUCKLAND 47 WELLINGTON 27

Auckland swaggered through the doors of the Last Chance Saloon, blasting Wellington out of the way in the shootout for the semis.

There was an element of self-destruction from Wellington as they returned to some of their indisciplined worst at the Cake Tin last night and yielded three tries soon after halftime when lock Dion Waller was sent to the sinbin.

It was a crucial concession, but Auckland controlled huge passages of the game, their forwards repeating the vigorous progress they delivered last week against Otago, giving Carlos Spencer time to direct the tempo and direction of this sudden-death match.

To crown their work, Auckland scored two superb late tries, Doug Howlett sliding in for his second as Spencer embarrassed Jonah Lomu with a grubber-kick down the blind, and lanky lock Ali Williams grabbing an intercept and sprinting 55m for a superb touchdown.

Victory promoted Auckland to second on the points table and a potential home semifinal if Otago beat Canterbury in the NPC match which doubles as a Ranfurly Shield challenge tonight.

Auckland went into the match with statistics that showed they had the most miserly defence in the competition. Those details were mocked early when the visitors conceded two tries in the opening 10 minutes.

Wellington gambled, kicking for the corner instead of goal and from the subsequent lineout Jason Spice scuttled over for a try.

Minutes later, Wellington captain Tana Umaga broke a flimsy tackle which allowed him to offload to Christian Cullen, who cantered 30m to the line.

Sporting a 12-0 lead to a Wellington side who rely on confidence levels looked as though it could have been a terminal condition for Auckland. They appeared out of sorts and very much out of their comfort zone.

In danger of conceding a lead they could not overtake, Auckland copied Wellington, kicking for touch rather than the posts. The move looked to have gone cold when Auckland lost the lineout, but they got a second chance and hooker Keven Mealamu ferreted over to convert a powerful rolling maul.

Tension started to rise, with players taking some cheap and off-the-ball shots at each other. Referee Paddy O'Brien did his best to defuse the pressure and then succumbed himself when he felt some problem with his left calf muscle.

He thought about retiring then, but as he told captains Xavier Rush and Umaga after another fiesty forward exchange, he preferred to limp on rather than allow either of his inexperienced touch judges into the fray.

But O'Brien could not continue after halftime, his place taken by rookie Brent Murray, who took just 90s to make an impact, sending regular villain Waller to the sinbin for another professional foul.

As Waller slumped in his plastic chair pondering if this would be his last game before he went to a new job in Japan, Wellington conceded three tries, the Auckland forwards took control and the game disappeared from Wellington in 10 chaotic minutes. Spencer jigged and danced to the line, and Howlett and Justin Collins added the others.

Auckland 47 (D. Howlett 2, K. Mealamu, C. Spencer, J. Collins, A Williams tries; Spencer 4 con, 2 pen, S. Devine drop goal)

Wellington 27 (J. Spice, C. Cullen, S. Carter, L. Mahoney tries; D. Holwell, con, pen, R. Flutey, con)

Halftime: 13-15