Rugby: Feisty Auckland triumph while Harbour turn victory into defeat

Waikato's Toby Lynn (L) is felled by Paul Williams of Auckland. Photo / Getty Images

The national championship campaigns either side of the Harbour Bridge could scarcely have had more contrasting conclusions.

Auckland saved their best until last to deny Waikato a crack at the Air New Zealand Cup semifinals, with a spirited, wholehearted 26-18 win in Hamilton.

However North Harbour tumbled in the second half in Palmerston North, turning a 16-8 halftime advantage over Manawatu to an embarrassing 42-16 defeat.

First Auckland. It might be unfair to suggest that having had the pressure of jousting for a semifinal spot with Waikato removed the night before - courtesy of wins by Wellington and Hawkes Bay - lightened Auckland's cares.

Whatever it was, they turned in a feisty display mixing defensive grit with a smart game plan. Hawkes Bay, back in round one, are the only side to have scored four tries against Auckland, so Waikato were always going to be up against it in terms of getting the bonus point they needed.

And they were undoubtedly helped by Waikato getting a bad case of the jitters.

Waikato's handling errors - 17 to Auckland's four - and conceding double the turnovers of Auckland undid any hopes, despite a bright start and an encouraging early burst after halftime.

They had outstanding performances from halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow and hard-running No 8 Alex Bradley, but the early loss of experienced fullback Sosene Anesi didn't help and the longer Auckland's defence - in which captain Benson Stanley was outstanding - stayed strong, the more a sense of panic set in.

Auckland led 13-11 at halftime, with each of the tries, by Jamie Helleur for Auckland, and Waikato flanker Jack Lam, having a touch of good fortune about them. Bradley's fine charge set up Trent Renata's try soon after the restart and Waikato hopes soared. Auckland prop Charlie Faumuina's first cup try, from good leadup work, shortly after, deflated them.

From there, on the back of Ash Moeke's tidy goalkicking, six out of seven attempts, Auckland were well worth the win, which left them fifth on the ladder.

"We had nothing to lose," Stanley said. "We haven't won here for a while so it's good to get that monkey off our backs."

Stanley admitted it had been "a real challenge" to get his players up for the game after events 24 hours earlier, "but you've got to respect the jersey. That's what it's all about".

Waikato captain Callum Bruce conceded that "under the pressure of a big game we couldn't execute. We were probably guilty of too many errors."

No probably about it. The question lingered, though: what if Auckland had played with this skill and commitment earlier in the season?

North Harbour's campaign had long drifted away from playoff talk, but they were sitting pretty to end on a good note, on the back of Rudi Wulf's impressive try and Mike Harris' sharp goalkicking.

But something stirred in the green-and-white men. Perhaps it was the sight of New Zealand Rugby Union bosses Jock Hobbs and Steve Tew in the stands, perhaps visualised with hanging judges' black caps on their heads, Manawatu having long been fingered as one of the four teams to drop out next year.

Manawatu rattled on four tries, 31 points in 18 minutes to take Harbour apart. Young wing Andre Taylor, distinctive for his strip of green hair, had his best day for the union with 26 points, including a booming dropped goal and two tries.

There had been an enthusiastic campaign - Save Our Turbos - running in the province this season.

"We just wanted to give something back," captain and flanker Nick Crosswell said. "To put a result on the board that would make these guys proud."

Counties-Manukau were run down by Otago at the last, beaten 22-19, despite outscoring their hosts three tries to one in Dunedin; and there was an entertaining finale to the round robin in Mt Maunganui yesterday, Taranaki bouncing back from a 24-6 halftime deficit to beat Bay of Plenty 30-24.

It ended with the Bay parked on Taranaki's line striving for the winning try. A no-account game? Maybe, but there was no lack of passion. Paul Perez skipped over in the left corner five minutes from the end to secure the win.