Auckland 48 Otago 7
Another monkey remains firmly affixed to Otago backs after Auckland extended their Eden Park rugby hoodoo over the southerners to three decades with an eerily predictable 48-7 romp tonight.
Otago's Ranfurly Shield drought clicks over to the half century mark next year - and a
similar margin was threatening at halftime after the defending national provincial champions loped to an 20-0 lead without doing anything particularly spectacular.
Ultimately Otago, who have not won at Eden Park since the inaugural year of the old NPC, kept the deficit to 41 but it was little consolation as Auckland, who booked a home quarterfinal, scored almost at will before a meagre crowd of just 11,754.
Isa Nacewa, nursing a leg injury, was deemed unavailable for the match day 22 but showed no signs of the impediment as he scored the opening Auckland try in the fifth minute from a scrum move after Anton Oliver's lineout feeding woes were again laid bare.
The five-pointer was also a minor triumph for Isaia Toeava, as the maligned All Blacks centre popped a perfect pass for doubling round skipper Sam Tuitupou to breach the Otago defence.
Tuitupou, the nuggety All Blacks midfielder, gave Nacewa a cruise to the line and then reverted to his modus operandi - lining up a procession of Otago players for bone jarring hits.
Opposite Callum Bruce, fullback Sam Horton and undersized wing Greg Zampach all suffered, particularly the latter who gave up a turnover for veteran Andrew Blowers to score by the posts seven minutes after the break to snuff out any chance of an Otago resurrection.
Zampach, the 30-year-old in his rookie season, gained some revenge when Horton put him in the clear after a 50m run to get Otago on the board in the 53rd minute but the underdogs were almost instantly regrouping under their own posts after Tasesa Lavea and Tuitupou combined to put a smile on Toeava's face as he dived over.
Otago, who now face away games for the duration of their Air New Zealand Cup campaign, needed to limit the damage early in the contest to stay in contention but opportunities were few and far between.
Nick Evans missed a couple of penalties he would usually expect to nail while Adam Thompson's skirt down the right hand touch line was the only viable try-scoring chance in the 20th minute.
Lavea, the other frequently scrutinised member of the Auckland backline, tracked back to lower the No 8 five metres short and was later rewarded with a popular try when he intercepted a pass from Pelu Pavihi and angled 50m for the corner.
Replacement Ben Atiga potted the difficult conversion to inflate the margin to 41-7 and another substitute, Lachie Munro, had the final say when Nacewa, again showing no discomfort, raced down the sideline before finding the 19-year-old rookie leading the queue of support players.
Auckland 48 (Isa Nacewa, Taniela Moa, Andrew Blowers, Isaia Toeava, Tasesa Lavea, Lachie Munro tries; Brent Ward 2 pen 4 con; Ben Atiga 2 con)
Otago 7 (Greg Zampach try; Nick Evans con).
HT: 20-0
- NZPA
Tasesa Lavea slips through the tackle of Glen Horton to score a try. Phil Walter / Getty Images
Auckland 48 Otago 7
Another monkey remains firmly affixed to Otago backs after Auckland extended their Eden Park rugby hoodoo over the southerners to three decades with an eerily predictable 48-7 romp tonight.
Otago's Ranfurly Shield drought clicks over to the half century mark next year - and a
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