Harbour humble awful Auckland
Former powerhouse finish just one point away from record loss
Auckland’s atrocious season continues to sink to new lows, following a 57-10 thumping at the hands of North Harbour yesterday. The previously proud province now sit last on the Premiership ladder and look set for a relegation battle.
They avoided the ignominy of their largest ever defeat and worst defensive display, by one point — that inglorious honour goes to a 59-11 thrashing to Waikato in 2004. However, given the circumstances, yesterday’s result continued the sad decline of a former powerhouse.
Following a sixth-place finish last season, there was an expectation in some camps that Auckland could rebound, but their uninspiring 1-2 start was a sign of things to come as they were blown off the park by a young Harbour side whose backline displayed their immense potential.
It seems the immediate future looks much brighter on the other side of the bridge, with Harbour having backed up their promotion from last season with an unbeaten start to their 2017 campaign. Wins over Otago and Southland were solid but expected, but the manner of their victory over their neighbours was an emphatic statement.
The victory was just their seventh in 38 games against Auckland, and it was on the cards from the off, when Shaun Stevenson opened the scoring by finishing off a scathing 60m move down the right wing.
Harbour had all the early running, and their young backline were dominating their more experienced counterparts. Tevita Li was the most prominent, carving up on the left wing, beating eight defenders, gaining 126m and nabbing two tries in an elusive display.
With Bryn Gatland providing plenty of ball for the backs as part of a 22-point outing, there was room to run at will, with Harbour breaking the line on 12 occasions as Auckland dropped off 21 tackles.
Auckland had their chances early, but Harbour’s defence held strong, and then turned their territorial advantage into a dominant showing on the scoreboard.
An 18-3 halftime lead was extended through Stevenson’s second try, and Li also bagged his double as Auckland were starved of possession, and floundered in defence.
As the score ballooned — Auckland conceding 50 points for the first time since 2013 — the trouncing continued, with hooker James Parsons streaking away for a 50m intercept try.
That moment seemed an apt nail in the coffin for Auckland, but even that wasn’t enough, with two further late tries only extending a historic humiliation.
Auckland’s slump into last place on the ladder was aided by Tasman, who picked up their first victory of the season to leapfrog Auckland on points difference.
Last year’s beaten finalists held off Waikato, but they required a nervous finish before coming out on top 31-29.
A victory looked secured at 31-12 with 17 minutes to go, but a yellow card to James Lowe proved costly as Waikato ran in three tries, including a stunning 84th minute Tawera KerrBarlow effort after they went the length of the field.
Waikato needed to kick the conversion to secure a thrilling draw, but young replacement first-five Matty Lansdown skewed his kick wide to let the Makos off the hook.
North Harbour 57 (Stevenson 2, Li 2, Duffie, Parsons, Volavola tries; Gatland 5 cons, 4 pens)
Auckland 10 (Moala try; Hickey con, pen). Halftime 18-3.
Tasman 31 (Guyton, Fredericks, Jordan, Taufua tries; Hunt 4 cons, pen) Waikato 29 (Uhila, Reece, Taukei’aho, Guildford, Kerr-Barlow tries; Lansdown 2 cons). Halftime: 14-12.