Rugby: Canterbury overcome Auckland fightback to continue unbeaten Farah Palmer Cup start

Martha Mataele (headgear) scored a double in Canterbury's win over Auckland. Photo / Photosport

Canterbury have continued their unbeaten start to the Farah Palmer Cup season, sneaking past Auckland to take a 33-27 win in Christchurch.

While the hosts came out on the right side of the tight and high-scoring affair, it was undoubtedly a much closer finish than the Canterbury fans would have liked to have seen.

Auckland got off to an ideal start when openside flanker Tafito Lafaele opened just scoring just two minutes into the match, but Canterbury were quick to hit back and soon found themselves in the lead.

Tries to Amy du Plessis, Martha Mataele and Grace Steinmetz saw Canterbury take a 19-5 lead into the halftime break, and they extended their grip on the game soon after the restart.

It took just two minutes after the break for Canterbury to extend their hold on the game, when hooker Georgia Ponsonby crossed from the back of a maul. With the hosts holding an imposing 21-point buffer, the result looked all but decided.

However, Auckland weren't going to go down without a fight and soon the comeback was on. It took the side 50 minutes to get their second try of the match, but after lock Maiakawanakaulani Roos crossed the line, something ignited in the Auckland side and they started to look near unstoppable in striking distance.

Tries to Kiritapu and Ruahei Demant soon followed, and Auckland took what looked like an unlikely lead with just 10 minutes to play when Katelyn Vaha'akolo scored.

However, a second try to Mataele edged Canterbury ahead once more and the hosts were able to hold on for the win.

In other matches, Otago were too strong for Hawke's Bay – despite receiving three yellow cards in the match, North Harbour toppled Taranaki, and Northland were too strong for Tasman.