Rugby: Hawke's Bay dismantle dismal Auckland

Air NZ Cup
Hawke's Bay 47
Auckland 13

Before the 14-team provincial championship is dumped and left to be ridiculed by history, a moment please to acknowledge Hawke's Bay.

Yesterday they hammered Auckland and it wasn't a surprise. If they had reached 50, which they nearly did, even that would not have been a surprise.

The gulf in class was apparent from the first exchanges and only got greater as the game wore on. The only surprise was that it was their first win against Auckland in 35 years.

Hawke's Bay have the better team, you see - they had more Super 14 players, more poise, more control, more awareness - more everything, really.

They dismantled Auckland with a grinding efficiency that the visitors would love to be able to emulate.

Poor old Auckland, with their massive pool of players, their deep pockets and long history of success, never stood a chance.

Hawke's Bay have been moulded into something surprisingly robust from all sorts of bits and pieces. They have their homegrown superstars in Israel Dagg and Zac Guildford - two young backs who have come through the region's development programme and are on their way to higher honours.

Dagg was a commanding presence at fullback and Guildford a tricky operator on the wing. They have recycled talent such as Jason Shoemark, Ross Kennedy and Mat Berquist - men who have failed elsewhere but are now at the peak of their craft - and they have some old-fashioned nuggets like Karl Lowe, Clint Newland and Mark Egan - classic provincial forwards whose happy place is at the bottom of a ruck.

The diversity of the Hawke's Bay make-up meant they had control across the park.

The collisions were willing but always won by the men in black and white. They could barely believe how much turnover possession they were able to pick up.

The lineout was a bit of a disaster for Auckland and they could only just contain the Hawke's Bay scrum.

In No 8 Thomas Waldrom, the Magpies showed themselves to be smart operators in the transfer market as well.

The former Wellington No 8 was the critical difference in the way he could take his side over the gain line.

If in doubt, the Magpies always had Waldrom to crash through tackles which he did particularly well late in the game to score his side's third try. A few minutes later and prop Arizona Taumalolo had clinched the bonus point.

The extra point was just reward. The Bay were so much better it would have been a travesty had they come up short. They had to show a bit of patience to get the scoreboard to reflect their dominance.

The break was reached with the game in the balance at 20-13 to Hawke's Bay; Auckland scoring a well-worked try through Daniel Bowden close to the hooter, before Karl Lowe was able to dance around the front of the lineout and step through some weak tackling.

Still, despite leaking that easy score to Lowe, there was a glimmer of hope for Auckland around the break.

Bowden had been sniping to good effect and there was a hint of danger about Auckland when they managed to push the ball wide.

That all collapsed in the second half, though, when Berquist kept nudging over the penalties to put them 29-13 ahead as the final quarter approached.

But once Waldrom crashed over - that was it. The Magpies were home, the only question being by how much.

It nearly got to 50 and that should be taken as a sign of the desire within this Bay team to reach new frontiers this season. They have made consecutive semifinals, but this is maybe their year to go one better.

The Magpies are the best story in New Zealand rugby - and have been for a few years now.

Why not give them the Super 15 team they have applied for? They could pull it off. They really could pull it off.

Hawke's Bay 47 (Z. Guildford, K. Lowe, T. Waldrom, A. Taumalolo, J. Kupa tries; M. Berquist 5 cons, 4 pens) Auckland 13 (D. Bowden try; D. Bowden con, 2 pens).