Rugby: Bumbling Auckland buried

By WYNNE GRAY

Wellington 48 Auckland 23

On the Eden Park ground which has been a Wellington graveyard for the last 17 years of the NPC, the visitors turned undertakers last night when they buried their long-term nemesis.

They picked over the carcass for most of the evening, soaked up the pressure and then had enough sting to cremate the champions with a burning, final flurry from Tana Umaga in his new position of centre following Alam Ieremia's late withdrawal..

By that time, even Leo the Lion, the Wellington mascot banned earlier this week, had made it on to the park with appropriate signs mocking Auckland's plight.

Umaga completed the taunts when he planted the ball against the goalpost pads for a legal try when he could have easily placed it across the line.

Auckland were flat, Wellington were dynamic from front to back. Their tight five held well, with their loose trio of Jerry Collins, Rodney So'oialo and Kupu Vanisi outstanding.

After their rampage last week against Otago, Auckland were monochromatic, lacking variety. Their pack scarcely had a crack at their opposites. The plan seemed to rely on giving the ball to Carlos Spencer and hoping for some results.

The outcome left Wellington looking to go one better than last year and Auckland wondering how they could have stumbled in such a crucial game after a progressive season.

Auckland's reputation as the best defensive side in the competition took an early beating. Quick ruck ball for Wellington after a string of attacks persuaded Spencer and Mils Muliaina they had to go for the defensive intercept, but the ball skidded into Collins' grasp, and he unloaded to Jonah Lomu for a simple try.

That great start became even better when video referee Gary Wise somehow managed to see Wellington wing Brad Fleming force the ball for a second try.

Perhaps his video skills were in mothballs after the system was neglected for round-robin play. But all that the moderate Eden Park crowd were able to see on the ground monitors was that Fleming had bounced the ball.

The wing even gave himself away. His expression after making a great break before the ball squeezed out of his grasp over the line was evidence of the miss.

Auckland were making it tough on themselves. Their defence was erratic, while they lost two successive tightheads against a scrum which has struggled for long parts of the season.

Twice Wellington were reduced to 14 men and both times they gained points.

The first sinbinning was appropriate after Jason Spice took out Steve Devine in mid-air after a previous punch.

The second seemed far more debatable when Inoke Afeaki was binned for a high tackle. It hardly seemed to be a breach worthy of going to the cooler.

On a night when Wellington knocked the odds, they also mocked the statistics, which regularly have teams conceding points when they are a man down.

Both times they ran penalties and on both occasions Christian Cullen scored.

The first came from a smart Umaga break and application of the advantage law from the referee, the second from a Spice tap and that innate anticipation which makes Cullen such a dangerous player.

A tap, a pass and Cullen had an 80m burst to the Auckland tryline and Wellington could welcome Afeaki back with a 29-16 lead and 30 minutes to play.

They conceded a late try to replacement forward Dylan Mika, but marched on to a famous victory and a place in next Saturday's first final of the millennium.

Wellington 48 (C. Cullen 2, J. Lomu, B. Fleming, T. Umaga, tries; D. Holwell, 4 con, 4 pen, Cullen drop goal) Auckland 23 ( D. Howlett, D. Mika, tries; C. Spencer 3 pen, 2 con) Haltime: 22-16.