Wellington 16 Auckland 15
Auckland produced their best performance of a flat Air NZ Cup rugby campaign but it still wasn't enough to lift the Ranfurly Shield off Wellington tonight.
Wellington retained the shield with a gripping 16-15 win in the capital, a result which owed everything to their willingness to graft for every metre gained.
Auckland looked the more promising with ball in hand but Wellington were better at the basics after leading 8-3 at halftime in a tight contest.
Wellington's third win in four outings this term came on the back of tries to prop John Schwalger and wing Hosea Gear, with Schwalger's effort in the 44th minute decisive.
It came after Gear attacked down the left flank before the ball was ferried to the far right where Schwalger found himself with enough open space to swan dive over the line.
Auckland enjoyed their best patch of the match in the next 15 minutes but had nothing to show for it outside of a try to substitute first five-eighth Daniel Bowden.
An initial thrust from wing Paul Williams in the 51st minute was built on by quickly recycled ball, which presented Bowden with a hole big enough to squeeze through.
Wellington first five-eighth Fa'atonu Fili landed a neat dropped goal 12 minutes later which extended his team's advantage to eight points and forced Auckland to make the play.
Make it they did, with replacement halfback Taniela Moa starting and finishing a 60m attack down the short side for Bowden to convert and slash the deficit to one point with 9min still on the clock.
The major talking point of the first half centred on referee Chris Pollock's decision to deny the well performed Fili a legitimate try in the 35th minute.
Fili latched on to a loose ball, toed ahead and regather before grounding it over the tryline but Pollock and his two touch judges were unsighted.
Pollock almost apologetically told Wellington captain that because the three officials were unsighted that he had no option other than to award the home side the feed to a 5m scrum.
With Westpac Stadium screen replays showing a try, the crowd was far from impressed but Pollock's hands were tied because competition rules do not allow match officials to review television footage.
As it was Wellington had to content themselves with just the one first-half try, scored by left wing Gear in the sixth minute.
Gear tiptoed down the touchline after rookie blindside flanker Mark Reddish hauled in a cross kick from Fili before drawing the last defender.
Highlights were few and far between in the opening 40 minutes, with the only other scoring coming from a Fili penalty and the same from his opposite Ash Moeke.
Wellington 16 (Hosea Gear, John Schwalger tries; Fa'atonu Fili pen, dropped goal) Auckland 15 (Daniel Bowden, Taniela Moa tries; Ash Moeke pen, Bowden con). Halftime: 8-3.
- NZPA
