Auckland beats Wellington by 21-17 in ongoing ITM Cup championship - Rugby News
Auckland battled past the Wellington side after a close contest to win 21-17 on July 23, in Wellington. Gareth Anscombe scored 15 points to help his side grab a hard fought victory over Wellington.
Auckland started off the game quickly as Nathan Hughes scored the first try of the match just in the second minute of the match. He was helped by Anscombe with a well directed conversion shot in the next minute which extended his team’s lead to 7-0 after
three minutes on the field.
Dane Coles paid back Auckland in the same fashion just a couple of minutes later with an equally well made five pointer. The match was levelled in the 6th minute as Limo Sopoaga kicked a successful conversion shot into Auckland’s goal posts.
Sopoaga scored a further three pointer for Wellington after a noticeable span of time which was replied to by Gareth Anscombe and the score was levelled once again. The next penalty conceded by the Wellington players proved to be the turning point of the
match. Gareth Anscombe again made no mistake to enhance their score to 13-10 moments before the interval.
The Wellington side failed to tackle Auckland players cleanly and conceded too many fouls in the first-half. The Auckland side remained successful in taking the lead over their rivals at the break as they led the game with 13-10.
Anscombe again shined for Auckland and kicked a splendid shot to start the second-half in a great fashion. The Wellington side looked quite down in the match as they were providing easy opportunities to Auckland’s motivated players.
Auckland made a couple of substitutions in the match as Nathan Hughes was called off the field and Auva’a replaced him in the 52nd minute of the match. The next replacement sent Francis Saili off and Haddon on the field. Meanwhile, Charles Piutau
scored second try of the match for Auckland which put his side on a decisive lead.
Wellington tried to bounce back in the match in the last ten minutes of the game and made some extensive efforts to decrease the deficit. Jeremy Thrush scored a much needed try for Wellington in the 74th minute of the match and Sopoaga produced
a ray of hope for them as they were just four points behind the Auckland’s side with five minutes to go in the final whistle. However, Auckland’s defence denied their march into the game and won the match by 21-17.
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