Rugby: Auckland romp over Waikato

Charles Piutau scored one of seven tries in Auckland's win over Waikato. Photo / Getty

Auckland 50
Waikato 28

The journey up State Highway 1 between Hamilton and Auckland is a lot more comfortable than it used to be and it would have been even more enjoyable for Auckland's ITM Cup side tonight.

Auckland went into their match with Waikato with only one win in three games but kickstarted their season with some outstanding attacking rugby. They scored seven tries, and 33 second-half points swung the contest in their favour.

It denied a Waikato side who looked excellent for portions of the game - they led 21-17 at the break - but were let down by poor defence.

"Auckland built a lot of phases and that's how they were able to score most of their tries," Waikato co-captain Brad Weber said. "We showed in patches that we can contend for the title this year but we've got to be able to do it for 80 minutes. We'll be better for this."

Terrific team tries were the feature of the contest, with three superb long-range counter-attacking tries the highlight of a free-flowing running contest as the talent-stacked backlines exchanged blows.

Damian McKenzie and Michael Fatialofa got things started, with the two No 10s touching down early. If those two opening close-range efforts were the simple, the sublime followed soon after.

Auckland were the first side to showcase a dose of high-quality running rugby, with halfback Kaito Shigeno on the end of a superb 70m try.

Just when it looked like Auckland may have grasped control of the encounter, Weber rapidly swung the contest back in Waikato's favour before halftime.

Firstly, the one-test All Blacks halfback showed sharp work from a tap and go in front of the posts, then started a move which is on the early shortlist for try of the season.

Auckland flanker Mitch Karpik's storming run down the sideline was halted metres short by the diminutive Weber, who managed to get to his feet and force a turnover which led to a masterful counter. Waikato combined five offloads in a flowing 90m move, the ball ending up in the hands of Anton Lienert-Brown.

The game's turning point came soon after the break, when Lam latched onto a Simon Hickey kick to score. Auckland then turned on the after-burners, with Taleni Seu, Nanai, George Moala and Mitchell Hunt scoring to raise the half-century.

"Waikato have got X-factor all over the park and, at halftime, we talked about staying a bit more patient, going a bit more direct and we did that," Auckland coach Paul Feeney said. "If we can put that last 25 minutes together consistently, we'll be hard to beat by any team."

Auckland prop Charlie Faumuina played 56 minutes in his second game back from injury and hopes to have one more hitout before flying out with the All Blacks to the World Cup.

Auckland 50 (M.Fatialofa, K.Shigeno, G.Moala, T.Seu, M.Hunt, B.Lam, M.Nanai tries, S.Hickey 5 con, 1 pen, J.Hickey 1 con)
Waikato 28 (D.McKenzie, S.Stevenson, B.Weber, A. Leinert-Brown tries, D.McKenzie four cons)