Rugby: Auckland defeats Tasman to top Miter Cup 10 Premier League

There is a new leader at the top of the Miter 10 Cup Premiership standings after Auckland defeated Tasman at Eden Park this afternoon.

The day before the All Blacks entered the same field, Tasman had several national players to turn to, including Tyrel Lomax and Sevu Reece, who had been released by the All Blacks to play one last provincial clash before heading to Australia for the Rugby Championship.

Yet it was Auckland whose class shone, in a surprisingly convincing 31-10 win, which was doubled as a small dose of revenge for their last encounter, in which Tasman knocked Auckland out of the semi-finals in 2019.

However, they never looked forward to claiming victory yesterday, with Auckland putting the game out of their grasp at halftime with four attempts to take a 24-0 lead.

This quickly extended to 31-0 after the break when Salesi Rayasi was at the end of a cross bomb.

Tasman crossed twice in the last 15 minutes, but to no avail. Auckland took five points to move four points ahead in the Premiership standings.

Tasman will return to third place after the Canterbury-Waikato clash tomorrow afternoon in Christchurch.

Wellington has also positioned itself very well in the Premiership race, earning its third win of the season with a 25-20 win over North Harbor in the capital.

North Harbor was the better team during the legs of the match, leading 13-0 after 30 minutes, but two excellent attempts, including a long-range effort against Billy Proctor’s run, led Wellington to one at the break.

A Tomas Aoake try gave North Harbor a buffer, but Wellington kept things going on penalties from Jackson Garden-Bachop and then Aoake went from hero to villain as he delivered a kick, allowing Julian Savea to jump up and score the try match winner. the Lions.

North Harbor returned to sixth place in the standings, with 12 points, the same as Bay of Plenty, who prevailed in a tryfest against Manawatū in Palmerston North, 53-35.

Bay of Plenty had a sealed bonus point by halftime as they ran on five attempts, but also conceded three to make it 38-21 at halftime.

The teams added two more attempts each in the second half to rack up the highest-scoring game in the competition this year.

The loss leaves Manawatu to remain winless for six games and to stay at the bottom of the Championship ladder ahead of their Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke’s Bay next weekend in Napier.

Taranaki advanced to fourth place in the Championship after achieving a 17-9 victory over Southland.

The Stags, who have scored just 73 points in six games and conceded just 82, made the game tough as usual in Invercargill, but failed to score a try and Taranaki’s goal in the 58th minute to Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens. it was enough to seal a useful victory.