Expansive Auckland romp home to land semifinal berth

Auckland 46 Bay of Plenty 14

You've got to hand it to Auckland: they won't die wondering this season.

And you can be sure the same expansive philosophy will be in place when they play Wellington at Eden Park in the Air New Zealand Cup semifinal on Friday night.

Bay of Plenty were seen off at a sparsely populated Eden Park, six tries to two, but only after Auckland put their foot down in the second half, which began with them only one point ahead.

But if the championship is to be retained, it will be done without All Black wing Doug Howlett, who is gone for about four weeks with a medial ligament strain in a knee.

There are also concerns over halfback Steve Devine (rotator cuff), flanker Andrew Blowers (lower back), lock Ali Williams (neck) and Isaia Toeava (haematoma on a leg).

But coach Pat Lam's attitude has always been about squad rather than team. Jiggling of resources through the round robin was done with just this possible scenario in mind.

The semifinal might, depending on the medical bulletin in the next day or so, be the chance to put Lam's belief to the test. "Every week we haven't had the same team because someone has been injured. That's the landscape you face and you prepare for that," he said.

In contrast to the previous week, Auckland began well on Saturday, dominated the Bay early on and when Howlett and No.8 Jerome Kaino - capping off a neat Otahuhu-inspired lineout move between hooker Keven Mealamu and lock Brad Mika - crossed inside the first 15 minutes the die appeared cast.

But the Bay showed spirit and plenty of ability to find a gap. Auckland got sloppy in the second quarter. Balls were dropped and tackles missed as Cory Aporo and Murray Williams found gaps in the defensive line.

Aporo scored after a Toeava passing blooper and, when Tasesa Lavea was tardy on a regulation clearing kick inside his 22, the indefatigable Jamie Nutbrown charged it down and forced it just inside the dead-ball line.

When first five-eighth Williams promptly shot through another gap there was a palpable sense their confidence was growing. Perhaps halftime came at a bad time for the Bay. Whatever, Auckland steadily reasserted themselves on the resumption.

The final scoreline was a shade unfair on Bay's contribution, but slip up and Auckland have shown they can be punishing. Mika, who was outstanding in many respects, took the final pass to score after a rousing passage of movement; Joe Rokocoko, who looked sharp, capitalised on good lead-up work by Ben Atiga to speed the last 20m, and that after the Bay botched a good position at the other end.

It became a period of ifs for Bay of Plenty, which cumulatively ended their hopes: if Warren Smith had held a clever flip pass from Nili Latu with an open 22m run to the line; if they had been able to capitalise when Lavea was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Mike Delany; if Tanerau Latimer had managed to get the final 10m to the tryline and avoided Kurtis Haiu's fine defensive tackle; and if Latu had not knocked on diving for the line ...

But a splendid try to replacement prop Chris Heard, ending 60m of fine handling and support play, and another to Haiu which came from slick passing from a long way out, showed Auckland in their best light.

Toeava had some moments of excellence, and Atiga, Rokocoko, prop Saimone Taumoepeau and Kaino all had strong games and played their part in a style that may not suit everyone, but Auckland back themselves and it works for them.

"It's exciting when the boys put it together and hold on to the ball," Lam said. "It's frustrating when we're making little errors, but the key thing is we enjoy our rugby and back ourselves." That's for sure, but tougher challenges lie ahead.