Reality bites new boys as Auckland show class

Auckland's Ali Williams wins the lineout ball over Chris Jack yesterday. Picture / Dean Purcell

Auckland 46 Tasman 6

Auckland could have come up with all sorts of excuses had they stuttered their way around a foul Eden Park yesterday.

Instead they produced eight tries in taking apart new boys Tasman with a fine display of rugby in which, at times, you could have imagined they were playing with a dry ball on solid ground and under sunny skies.

And now they've set themselves a benchmark. Auckland lead pool B of the Air New Zealand Cup and although they have a couple of decent hurdles ahead, should have their sights on finishing first in the group ahead of the top-six playoffs.

They led 15-6 at halftime, having played into the rain, but ran away with it after the break as the forwards dictated terms and the backs cut snappy capers against a Tasman team who were washed away in the second spell.

"We knew we were going to come up against some judderbars along the way," Tasman coach Dennis Brown said. "We hit a pretty big one today."

It began promisingly enough, with Ben Gollings kicking the first of his two penalties for the new amalgamated union. They were useful at the lineouts, where George Ngaoupo impressed, and stuck to the job admirably, at times putting in some diligent defence.

But when one team is fielding 10 All Blacks and the other is essentially a mixed bag of former second division players with a couple of lower division Englishmen thrown in, it was just a matter of time before class prevailed.

There were more ramifications from the first-round win on Manawatu's sand trap before kickoff, with hooker Derren Witcombe succumbing to a groin strain. Captain Sam Tuitupou and wing Joe Rokocoko were other late withdrawals with hamstring niggles.

Given the state of Eden Park, the sensible ploy might have been to play position, grind away with the big men and wait for chances. But that's not the Auckland approach and seven of their tries came from the backs.

Some were slickly put together, a mixture of quick thinking, flypaper hands and supporting the ball carrier.

The sole forward try went to No 8 Andrew Blowers, who celebrated his first game back in his home patch for seven years by driving across from a ruck near the Tasman line 13 minutes from the end, capping a strong display.

There were two tries for Doug Howlett, the first a beauty, quick hands setting him off 30m out and the All Black veteran seeing off three tacklers in diving across at the corner.

Isa Nacewa's handy effort as makeshift first five-eighths included a nifty double-round move with Ben Atiga for a try; while the award for odd try of the day went to Isaia Toeava.

When Gollings had an ambitious clearance from under the posts partially blocked by Ali Williams' arm, it flew at an odd angle parallel with the tryline. Toeava reacted smartly to leap high, grab the rebound and score.

Kurtis Haiu was a strong contributor at the lineouts and round the park, as were Daniel Braid, Blowers and the indefatigable Keven Mealamu. All the backs had their moments, even the luckless wing Chris Mahony. He got in a couple of strong runs, one helping set up Atiga's try, before injuring a medial ligament when his right leg twisted in a tackle. He was stretchered off and a verdict on his recovery isn't expected until later today or tomorrow.

Reality hit Tasman yesterday, as Auckland enjoyed a splendid reward for their rugby philosophy.