Auckland 41 Bay of Plenty 3
View photosKEY POINTS:
Brent Ward's unerring boot and three late tries glossed over an error-ridden Auckland display at Mt Maunganui last night.
Auckland seemed struck by a severe bout of white line fever, with a string of scoring chances thrown away and countless forced passes that invariably went tumbling to the grass.
Ward was a relieved man after Auckland snuck out of town with a bonus point victory that scarcely looked likely for much of the evening.
"I think we would have been happy to walk away with just the win," he said.
"We talked all week about not forcing the pass and just holding on to it so we could maybe score on the next phase but, once we got into the red zone, we wanted to score every time.
"We've got to make sure we keep working on that because we've got Waikato next week and they'll make us pay for those mistakes dearly."
Ward converted Ali Williams' fifth-minute try and then slotted five straight penalties to ensure his side were never seriously threatened by a Bay of Plenty side that has yet to post a try this season.
Williams' display was the shining light in an otherwise murky evening.
He may have been more in search of a rest on the wing than a try when Sam Tuitupou fired the ball his way after a sustained build-up, but there was no doubting his intent when he set up replacement Lachie Munro's bonus-point try in the final minute.
The sight of Williams striding down the touchline leaving Bay of Plenty defenders in his wake will have warmed the hearts of All Blacks followers concerned at the way the country's locking resources have been whittled down by injury in a World Cup year.
But, other than Williams' all-round effort and Ward's boot, there was little to enthuse about for the best part of 70 minutes.
Late tries to Isa Nacewa and a double to Munro rather glossed over a performance that will have given coach Pat Lam plenty to think about ahead of next weekend's visit by the defending champions.
The Steamers managed just a sole penalty goal, their best effort going unrewarded when Rena Schuster was dragged down inches short midway through the first half.
Auckland loose forward Brad Mika briefly brought the game alight with an outrageous dummy and a surging run into Bay territory but, if anything, the play was symptomatic of an Auckland approach that was just a little too cute.
The try-scoring opportunities dried up as the handling errors at crucial stages mounted, but Auckland bossed the game well enough for Ward's unfailing boot to ensure they led 16-3 at the break.
Two more penalties in the space of two minutes a quarter of an hour from the end seemed to suck the wind out of the Bay's sails.
With nine minutes to go Nacewa finally found his way across the line before the baby-faced Munro doubled his try scoring tally for the province.
Said Ward: "We knew if we could wear them down then it might open up a bit in the last 10 minutes and that's what happened." Auckland: L. Munro 2, A. Williams, I. Nacewa tries; Brent Ward 5 pen, con, Munro 2 con.
Bay of Plenty: M. Williams pen.
Halftime: 16-3.
