Rugby: Auckland ease to win

Auckland's win over North Harbour could have been greater with more accuracy from Gareth Anscombe. Photo / Getty

Auckland 32
North Harbour 7

The rivalry between Auckland and North Harbour has paled significantly since the infamous Battle of Onewa 20 years ago, with the neighbouring sides playing out a dour, scrappy encounter at Eden Park tonight.

There were no fights, no yellow cards, no sendings off and no controversy.

North Harbour barely threatened the line, barring a Pita Ahki consolation try in the final minute, and allowed Auckland to coast to victory thanks to a plethora of missed tackles and infringements.

The margin would have been greater had first five-eighths Gareth Anscombe not lost his goal-kicking touch - he landed four of seven attempts. Anscombe had a disastrous start, his first touch being a kick out on the full, before dropping a pass and being pinged for taking a free kick in front of the mark all within the first five minutes.

He was guilty early of ignoring willing receivers in favour of taking on the line himself.

Eventually Auckland were able to spread the ball, finding their skilled forwards ranging in the wide channels. Sean Polwart was particularly impressive, finding gaps in the defence with ball in hand and making a nuisance of himself at rucks.

With the majority of possession, Auckland were able to build pressure and eventually Harbour cracked. Anscombe finally used an overlap and Ben Lam cruised over for the first try.

The class of All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipolotu was evident, carrying strongly and he produced some sublime handling in challenging conditions.

North Harbour had plenty of extended stays inside the Auckland 22, but were unable to convert them into points due to both spirited Auckland defence and vulnerability at the breakdown.

Harbour midfielders Pita Ahki and Matt Vaega looked dangerous with some sniping runs, but they will rue an inability to look after the ball in contact. The visitors appeared to simply lose interest with 20 minutes to go, allowing Auckland to score twice more through Gafatasi Su'a and Anscombe to seal a bonus-point victory.

Auckland 32 (Ben Lam, Hadleigh Parkes, Gafatasi Su'a, Gareth Anscombe tries; Gareth Anscombe 2 pens, 2 cons, Simon Hickey con)
North Harbour 7 (Pita Ahki try; Matt McGahan con).

HT: 11-0