KEY POINTS:
One big name is a glaring omission while another headline grabber is in danger of not living up to the hype as the national provincial rugby playoffs were finally clarified yesterday.
Auckland, unbeatable last season, was ultimately the biggest loser in the aftermath of a tense and unpredictable final round of the Air NZ Cup's regular season.
Northland, at risk of top-flight exile three weeks ago, ended on a three-match winning streak and also has an opening round upset of Waikato and a narrow loss to Canterbury to look back on fondly.
Auckland, who finished an ignominious 11th, must concentrate on rebuilding with coach Shane Howarth now focusing on a potentially troubled Super 14 campaign with the Blues.
Auckland's final hiccup allowed Taranaki to finish eighth - thanks to the two bonus points they garnered from a 41-45 loss to Waikato on Thursday night.
Their reward is a Saturday evening quarterfinal in Wellington, perhaps not as daunting an assignment as it may have looked a month ago.
Wellington's decline is not yet as dramatic as Auckland but there are signs the tremors prompted by Tasman's bold Shield challenge may be developing into fault lines
The top qualifiers' goal of ending the season unbeaten ended at Carisbrook on Saturday night when an Otago side already well out of the quarter-final mix and pilloried by their departing captain leading up to this match, orchestrated a 36-21 upset.
Otago were already out of the quarter-final mix but at least managed to give a frustrated Craig Newby an appropriate send off after seven years toil. The England-bound Newby was an integral part of Otago's consolation win, though the province's current All Black loosie Adam Thomson proved a crucial point of difference with two tries and some sterling snaffling work on the ground.
Wellington admittedly had the luxury of resting stars Cory Jane, Hosea Gear and Piri Weepu - but a loss of momentum could be the unpalatable side-effect.
Momentum is one commodity Canterbury are blessed with - on the scoreboard at least - they took their ninth consecutive win, 25-6 over Southland in Invercargill on Friday night. Again Canterbury looked far from fluent but did enough to suggest Tasman's visit on Friday night for the first quarterfinal may be an exercise in futility though Tasman shrugged off their Shield despair with a comprehensive 36-7 win in Manawatu.
Canterbury's main personnel concern is former All Blacks No 8 Mose Tuiali'i, who was concussed and wrenched his neck when colliding with teammate Isaac Ross at a lineout.
North Harbour joined Otago in the better-late-than-never club, farewelling coach Wayne Pivac with a 57-28 demolition of Counties Manukau - an inconsequential contest notable for captain Jimmy Gopperth's 27-point haul, the highest individual contribution of the season.
- NZPA
