Storm's seven-up

Auckland Storm won their seventh consecutive NPC title yesterday when they defeated Canterbury 36-3 at Eden Park, although the victory wasn't as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.

The defending champions were made to work hard for their win, with Canterbury's defence holding resolute into the final quarter.

Canterbury actually led at halftime and had Auckland under intense pressure with the commitment and organisation of their defence.

Auckland, though, had game breakers in wing Victoria Blackledge and were well served at first five-eighths by Anna Richards.

Auckland captain and openside Rochelle Martin said she hoped the win would help lift not only the profile of her Auckland side but also women's rugby.

"Winning seven titles is not something you think about," said Martin. "If you did, I think it would give you the heebie-jeebies. We had a goal to go through the championship unbeaten and we managed that. That says a lot about the depth of the squad as we have had a few new players come in this season.

"It has been an awesome achievement. We had a good talk at halftime. They were putting a lot of pressure on us.

"It would be really good to get some promotion. We've achieved a lot and it would have been nice if we had some promotion about this game to help us rally some support. But that is our world.

"There is an international series coming up and hopefully we will get support for that."

Auckland 36

(V. Blackledge (2), J. Sione, V. Lavea, M. Kingi, H. Manuel tries; H. Myers, 3 cons).

Canterbury 3

(M. Ruscoe, pen)

- HERALD ON SUNDAY