Otago 32 Auckland 25
Otago put 35 years of hurt behind them with a second half flourish at Eden Park last night.
Three tries in nine minutes turned their ITM Cup rugby match on its head. No more will they be assailed with the jibe about 1976 being their
last win on the ground. It was also their first chance to get their hands on the Lin Colling Memorial Trophy since its inception in 2005.
Auckland remain winless after two games. Another bonus point is no consolation. Otago are at the top of the second tier championship ladder and at the end wore smiles as wide as the Octagon.
Auckland also lost captain Daniel Braid with a nasty eye injury in the second half, courtesy of a stray hand from teammate Richard Haddon.
It all looked promising at halftime for Auckland and among the big questions today at their recovery session will be about the waste of a pile of good first half commitment and strategy.
Their forwards hoed into their work, No 8 Chris Lowrey an industrious presence all around the park. They piled into the rucks, forced turnovers and supported the ball runner impressively.
Joe Rokocoko was the individual star turn of the half, picking up Auckland's two tries in what might have amounted to a "hey Graham, don't forget me" to a chap undoubtedly watching from Dunedin.
He scored both from first receiver, swerving around lumbering tight forwards, both times after strong leadup work.
By the interval, Otago were battling on most fronts, having made twice the tackles of Auckland, and behind on the percentage stakes on territory and possession.
Fullback Glenn Dickson had kept Otago in the hunt with three penalties, but it had a sense of Auckland's game to lose at the interval. But three tries from the 54th to 63rd minutes upended the hosts and Otago's spirit shone in the form of their spirited late defence to see the job through.
Replacement flanker TJ Ioane made up for some sloppy first half moments to gather a loose ball when a lineout play went wrong - and fortuitously off a nudge forward by a teammate at the set piece - and charged irresistably through four tackles to the line.
Dickson went in, then out, past Vili Waqaseduadua and shook off Winston Stanley en route to the righthand corner; and when Buxton Popoali'i, Otago's liveliest back, gathered an ordinary chip kick ahead and sprinted 40m down the lefthand touch, past poor defence, Otago had sprouted wings.
Replacement prop Pauliasi Manu squeezed across the Otago line nine minutes from the end to raise Auckland's hopes.
But with veteran first five-eighths Tony Brown running the cutter tidily, Dickson a heavy contributor with 22 points, and the pack energetically led by Eben Joubert , it was Otago's night.
Otago 32 (TJ Ioane, G. Dickson, B. Popoali'i tries; Dickson 5 pen, con).
Auckland 25 (J. Rokocoko 2, P. Manu tries; G. Anscombe 2 pen, 2 con. HT: 15-9
