Auckland finish with maximum points

Steve Devine of Auckland passes the ball under pressure. Ross Land / Getty Images

Auckland 29 Taranaki 3

A flawed then lethal Auckland maintained a perfect start to their national provincial rugby title defence with a comprehensive 29-3 victory over a rugged but ultimately generous Taranaki in New Plymouth tonight.

A suicidal chip kick by fullback Brendon Watt gifted Doug Howlett a crucial try to break a 3-3 deadlock and Auckland finished emphatically, adding three tries in the final 13 minutes to bank the maximum five points at Yarrow Stadium.

Ironically, Auckland played more assuredly during a period of heavy rain in the final quarter after making a catalogue of uncharacteristic mistakes before the cloud cover broke.

Despite enjoying a substantial territorial advantage and the bulk of possession, Auckland were sloppy close to the line until Watt's brain-snap finally handedover the ascendancy.

After fielding a harmless kick inside his 22, Watt, with the safety of either touch line to pick, instead chipped ahead to the arms of Isaia Toeava who flung the ball to Howlett. The All Blacks wing scored one of the softest tries of his career in the 54th minute.

Auckland more than capitalised on their lucky break and added tries to reserve Taniela Moa, captain Sam Tuitupou and a last- minute break out by a swallow-diving Joe Rokocoko to stay atop of pool A in the Air New Zealand Cup with 15 points.

A butchered try by hooker Derren Witcombe, who spilled Jerome Kaino's charge down of Watt's laboured clearance with the line begging just before halftime, summed up a fumbling first half effort by Auckland, who enjoyed enough ball, territory and opportunities to motor into double figures.

Instead they spluttered down the tunnel 0-3 down after Miah Nikora converted one of his two kicking opportunities with a success from 25-metres in the 19th minute.

Taranaki rarely made it out of their own half in the first spell, with Auckland practically camping in opposition territory.

Auckland also dominated the ruck and maul count by a massive 74-26 though Taranaki won a key statistic -- snaffling six crucial turnovers to nil, many snatched when Auckland looked destined to score.

The host's best try scoring chance came in the 15th minute but was sabotaged by referee Chris Pollock, who mistakenly judged a Taranaki hand had illegally gained possession at a ruck.

Auckland's stayed faithful to their high-tempo game plan but when handling errors crept in they adopted a more confrontational approach -- although that too was often undone by some butter-fingers.

Brent Ward's place kicking woes continued when Auckland finally took a conservative approach after initially opting for a scrum 10m out, but the fullback sliced the handy attempt wide to contemplate a success rate of just five from 15 attempts this season.

Auckland turned down another kickable penalty three minutes from the break but Taranaki were staunch enough to hold out until Witcombe's lapse gave them a breather.

Despite a halftime pep talk by coach Pat Lam, Auckland were slow to react -- Rocokoko knocked on from the restart while Howlett grubbered over the dead ball line.

However, Ward eventually found his range with a handy 46th minute penalty to get Auckland on the board and they never looked back.

Auckland 29 (Doug Howlett, Taniela Moa, Sam Tuitupou, Joe Rokocoko tries; Brent Ward pen, 3 con).
Taranaki 3 (Miah Nikora pen).
HT: 0-3

- NZPA