Rugby: Auckland's season of misery continues

Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi of Taranaki celebrates with teammates after scoring a try.

Taranaki 49 Auckland 38

Auckland's season of misery continued at Eden Park this afternoon, copping another heavy defeat to remain anchored near the bottom of the Mitre 10 Cup Premiership.

A week after being mauled 57-10 by neighbours North Harbour, Auckland did show some improvements on attack against the amber-and-blacks, but a second straight porous defensive showing prevented them from remaining in contention during an error-prone second half.

Auckland have now conceded 165 points from five games - good for an average of 33 a match - and their lone victory over Northland looks unlikely to be repeated any time soon. While they did manage to earn a bonus point to inch ahead of Tasman in the top tier's standings, the Makos have played two fewer games.

Character alone won't be enough to avoid relegation to the Championship, but Auckland did at least display more mettle than last week to prevent what had appeared in the first 10 minutes like would eventually be another embarrassing loss.

The players and few fans dotting the barren Eden Park stands would have been experiencing a painful case of deja vu as Declan O'Donnell opened the scoring in the second minute, before Toa Halafihi snaffled an intercept five minutes later as Auckland continued to prove their own worst enemy.

But, unlike against Harbour, the floodgates initially remained shut as the hosts fought back into the match. First Vince Aso grabbed the first of his three tries, then Marcel Renata actually gave Auckland what this season has been a rare lead.

It didn't last, though, as promising Blues first five Stephen Perofeta finished off an impressive attack to put the visitors back in front, but Auckland once more fought back and even earned a halftime lead when Taleni Seu crashed across in the 38th minute.

Unfortunately for Auckland, the second half was far more one-sided as Taranaki romped to their third victory in four games, a win anchored by a three-try surge to start the spell.

The first was scored by Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and celebrated with a hongi, the second saw Lachlan Boshier pounce on a loose ball to put Taranaki in front, and the third came when Kylem O'Donnell capitalised on yet another error.

Suddenly, a 25-19 lead for Auckland had become a 46-28 deficit, and the match was essentially over. The hosts did finish on a high, with Aso running in two more to complete his hat-trick after the hooter had sounded, but those efforts were too little and far too late.

Auckland 38 (V. Aso 3, M. Renata, T. Seu tries; J. Hickey 3 pens, con, T. Elkington con)
Taranaki 49 (D. O'Donnell, T. Halafihi, S. Perofeta, T. Tahuriorangi, L. Boshier, K. O'Donnell tries; M. McKenzie 5 cons, 2 pens, S. Perofeta pen)
Halftime: 25-19