Rugby: Wellington makes Auckland pay in Miter Cup 10

Wellington has sent the message to the rest of the 10 Miter Cup: it is a bad idea to wake up a sleeping lion.

The beaten finalist from a year ago, Wellington’s season got off to a bad start with a demolition at the hands of Waikato in the first round.

When they traveled to Eden Park to meet Auckland, who had a comfortable victory over Otago in their opening match, things seemed to end in a familiar way.

Auckland went up 7-0 in the first five minutes after an attempt to hook Leni Apisai from the back of a short-range lineout and dominated opening possession. However, a timely attempt by Wellington’s second five-eighth Vince Aso against the game’s gait set the wheels in motion for an impressive 39-21 Wellington victory.

Aso pounced on a loose volley around the half mark, catching the ball from the blind side, tiptoeing along the sideline before entering for his side’s first try.

While Auckland had the upper hand across the board, from there Wellington took control on the scoreboard.

As strange as it is to think that the team with only 46 percent of the ball could be in control, Wellington defended well and then picked their spots on Auckland’s defensive line.

On the back of a solid in-game kicking game from Jackson Garden-Bachop, in addition to some well-executed pieces, Wellington soon found himself with a healthy 22-7 lead after attempts by right winger Wes Goosen, center Peter Umaga-Jensen and fullback Billy Proctor.

Auckland responded at the end of the half through running back Jonathan Ruru, who dived from close but was unable to close the half hard as Wellington slipped on a fourth down through left-footed Pepesana Patafilo.

Wellington was making things look very easy within 22 opponents, and the 29-14 touchdown line at halftime proved it.

Auckland continued to ask Wellingtons questions once the second half began, and they were quickly rewarded with an attempt from left winger Caleb Clarke, closing the gap to eight points with 25 minutes to go.

Garden-Bachop gave Wellington some breathing room with a penalty in the 61st minute, and for a time it seemed he had provided three vital points.

Auckland continued their assault on Wellington’s defensive line, forcing the visitors to tackle 50 more tackles than they did in 63 minutes, but their lack of patience left them mired in Wellington territory. Number 8 Hoskins Sotutu came the closest to putting Auckland within attacking distance, but threw the ball to try and put it down.

Despite having to make more tackles, conceding more penalties and spending much less time in the 22 rivals, Wellington made Auckland pay every time he got the chance, the last hit coming in the 73rd minute with Aso crossing per second from day to seal the 18th – victory point.

Earlier in the day, Otago was too strong for Manawatū at Palmerston North, fleeing with a 36-25 victory.

The scoreboard was quite flattering for the hosts, who trailed 36-8 with 13 minutes remaining, before conceding two attempts to Aaron Smith and another to Micaiah Torrance-Read.

Meanwhile, Hawke’s Bay rebounded from a first round loss to Southland, dispatching Counties Manukau 31-17 at Napier.

Led by two first-half attempts by running back Brad Weber, the Magpies did the damage in the first 40 minutes, with their 26-10 halftime lead proving too much for the visitors.

Wellington 39 (Vince Aso 2, Wes Goosen, Peter Umaga-Jensen, Billy Proctor, Pepesana Patafilo tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 3 cons, pen)
Auckland 21 (Leni Apisai, Jonathan Ruru, Caleb Clarke try; Harry Plummer 3 cons).
HT: 29-14