Auckland 22
Otago 18
The results keep coming for Auckland. Shorn of their All Blacks for a duel in the Dunedin sun, the visitors bashed and hustled their way to another victory.
It was not their best performance of the season, but the 22-18 outcome was sweet music for Auckland who have moved into mid-table in the national championship and will have other sides looking anxiously at their itineraries.
This was Auckland's third win in their last four outings with their only hiccup the narrow loss in the Ranfurly Shield challenge.
Coach Mark Anscombe admitted to some late nerves and then relief as Otago piled on the attacking pressure in the search for the winning try.
"That was great. It is the first time I've been down here and won and it is a damned difficult place to achieve that," he said.
He had not been so happy at the break after he felt Auckland had squandered the advantages of playing with the breeze and the sun behind them. His team had made too many errors and much of the play had stalled around the halfway line.
"We had not applied enough pressure but after that we scrambled well, we built a lead and threatened, though our poor execution did not help at times," he said. "However I could not fault our boys for the endeavour."
Tries to captain Benson Stanley and prop Tevita Mailau were a huge response for Auckland after Otago wing Karne Hesketh had busted some weak defence and scored just after halftime.
Both tries were converted, from the sideline, by first five-eighths Daniel Bowden and while Auckland conceded another soft try to Ryan Shortland, their lead was too great for their hosts to overhaul.
Auckland had to make do in the last quarter without Stanley who has been favouring his hamstring while their substitutes, like massive young prop Paea Fa'anunu, all made a strong contribution.
The scrum and lineout, where Andrew van der Heijden and Kurtis Haiu were strong performers, stunted much of Otago's attacking platform while looseforward Hamish Paterson won several crucial turnovers.
"I also thought Jamie Helleur was really good for us all game turning over ball and showing real commitment in that area of the match," said Anscombe.
"That sort of endeavour showed in the last play of the game where we managed to get a turnover when it would have been very dangerous had Otago managed to build their play for three or four phases."
Auckland led 8-3 at the break after Haiu converted a quick tapkick and stretched out to graze the whitewash. Pacy young wings Dave Thomas and Atelia Pakalani had both narrowly missed scoring, but all those injustices meant nothing when Otago drew level soon after halftime.
Several surges and a break and neat offload from Bowden allowed Stanley to make the line then Mailau bashed over on the shortside after Otago had muffed one of their lineout throws.
Otago will rue a missed chance and are now looking at a Ranfurly Shield challenge this week without All Blacks Tom Donnelly and Adam Thomson, while lock Hayden Triggs also damaged his ribs.
