NPC: Niko Jones shines as Auckland prove too strong for plucky Manawatū in 45-18 win

At CET Arena, Palmerston North: Auckland 45 (Niko Jones, Vaiolini Ekuasi, Terrell Peita, Jordan Trainor, Sofai Maka, Hamish Dalzell tries; Simon Hickey 6 con, 1 pen) Manawatū 18 (Ed Fidow, Johnny Galloway tries; Brett Cameron 1 con, 2 pen) HT: 24-11.

Auckland remains unbeaten in the national provincial championship following a comprehensive 45–18 victory over Manawatū in Palmerston North.

There were no shortages of stars in the Aucklanders’ six tries to two victory and Jones, who scored the opening five-pointer, was up there with the best of them.

The 22-year-old prodigy was strong at the breakdown, a defensive workhorse and had no shortage of strong carries in an 80-minute performance of non-stop mahi where viewers of a certain vintage would have seen the genetic comparisons with his father, Sir Michael Jones.

Auckland, coming off a 36-26 win over North Harbour and Manawatū, who were fresh from a 62-15 thrashing at the hands of Canterbury, both made multiple changes on the short backup from the weekend.

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Manawatū might have been soundly beaten but its aggression and enthusiasm in defence was a vast improvement from last Friday night.

On paper, Manawatū were playing for a bonus point at best, but it was the home side who grabbed the first try after Brett Cameron and Simon Hickey exchanged penalties.

The Turbos dominated much of the opening 14 minutes with some strong carries and halfback Luke Campbell took advantage with a dummy and go from 40 metres out before finding lively fullback Drew Wild in support who threw the final pass to winger Ed Fidow.

It took until the 24th minute for Auckland – who were a little sloppy early but also up against a committed Manawatū defence – to break the Turbos line with a try to Jones after the visitors’ first sustained attack inside Manawatū’s danger zone.

Auckland spent most of the next seven minutes pounding Manawatū’s line with pick and gos, after the Turbos successfully defended two lineout dives, and eventually big No. 8 Vaiolini Ekuasi crossed for Auckland’s second.

Flanker Terrell Peita scored Auckland’s third right on halftime on the back of strong running midfielder Pasqualle Dunn.

Manawatū was forced to make twice as many tackles as Auckland in the opening half with the blue and whites dominating possession (63%) and territory (64%).

Fullback Jordan Trainor opened Auckland’s scoring in the second half with a spectacular try from an audacious cross kick from Hickey.

Hardworking Turbos’ open side Johnny Galloway gave a glimpse of his speed and footwork to cross for a long range try down the CBD touchline to close the gap to 31-18 midway through the second half.

Manawatū centre Kegan Christian-Goss got an early finish when he was sent to the bin and Auckland took advantage with replacement winger Sofai Maka scoring on debut.

Hamish Dalzell ran in a late try on the buzzer on the back of a Salesi Rayasi break and a smart offload from Manu Paea.

Explosive winger Tima Fainga’anuku, lock Veikoso Poloniati, Campbell and captain Brayden Iose were all strong performers in a beaten Turbos side.

The big moment

Down 17-11 just 90 seconds before the break, Manawatū won a turnover inside their own 22-metre line. The Turbos’ should have closed out the half and gone into the sheds firmly in the contest. Instead, they knocked on and Auckland pounced to extend its half-time lead to 24-11.

Match rating

6.5/10. Made all the better by the Turbos making it more of a contest than expected.

MVP

Pasqualle Dunn. The big Auckland second-five-eighth didn’t get the number of opportunities he should have but consistently muscled his way across the gain line and produced two clean line breaks.

The big picture

With two wins from as many starts, Auckland has a solid chance to go three from three when they travel to Invercargill to take on Southland on Sunday. The winless Manawatū face a tough task to secure its first win of the season when they head north to take on North Harbour, also on Sunday.