Waikato NPC snapped its losing streak to beat Auckland 27-12 at Bell Park over the weekend and retain the Stan Thomas Memorial Trophy.
It was a dream debut for winger Aki Tuivailala, as he scored the first try of the match around the 10-minute mark.
Waikato were camped down in the Auckland 22 for the majority of the first 10 minutes. Austin Anderson drew in two players to offload to Tuivailala, who went in untouched for the first score. Tepaea Cook-Savage was unsuccessful with the conversion and Waikato led 5-0.
Auckland struck back to draw the game level after the midway point of the first half. After a Waikato overthrow, Auckland pounced on the ball and then went down the field for Vaiolini Ekuasi to score in the corner.
Zarn Sullivan was unsuccessful with the conversion and the score remained 5-0 after 24 minutes.