Auckland routed by Tasman in Nelson thriller

The bigger the scalp, the sweeter the taste.

The Tasman Makos finally ended a series of harrowing defeats and near-misses with a stunning 30-28 ITM Cup rugby win over Auckland at Trafalgar Park last night.
The Aucklanders will be claiming some sort of Trafalgar Park hoodoo after also losing their only previous game in Nelson two seasons ago. However, it was the perfect hometown response to help celebrate Mark Bright's 50th match for the province – and the big No8 was among the stars of an inspired Tasman performance which, for once, didn't turn pear-shaped at the death.
Auckland still had a chance to wreck the party when centre Hadleigh Parkes slithered across for their third try, with the fulltime hooter having already sounded, to reduce Tasman's lead to 30-28.
But after having helped dismember Tasman with a record 32-point individual haul in last year's crushing 49-10 win in Auckland, substitute first five-eighth Gareth Anscombe this time couldn't deliver the crucial angled conversion as Tasman held on for the win.
It was certainly justice for a Tasman team that played with pace and, at times, a good deal of panache, including three superbly-taken tries to first five-eighth James Marshall, Bright and finally to captain and second five-eighth Andrew Goodman.
There were certainly lingering throwbacks to earlier matches as occasional mishandling and breakdown indiscretions threatened to help Auckland steal the initiative. Tasman's resolve was evident throughout, however, as the forwards maintained an intensity that kept Auckland constantly searching for counters.
Bright was dynamic with the ball in hand and marked the occasion with a spectacular late first-half try following some clever interplay with James Marshall.
Lock Joe Wheeler, flankers Shane Christie and Liam Squire, and front rowers Quentin MacDonald, Sam Prattley and Fai Mika made significant contributions as Tasman backed up their unquestioned endeavour with some resourceful execution.
Marshall's third-minute try, set up superbly by Squire and wing Robbie Malneek, helped Tasman to a 10-3 lead midway through the half, which evaporated when seasoned fullback Brent Ward crossed for Auckland's first try.

Further tries to Auckland midfielder Teddy Stanaway, from an unsecured Parkes chip kick, and finally to Bright saw the scores level at 17-all at the break.

Anscombe, a halftime replacement, put Auckland ahead 20-17 directly after the restart, before a further 13 points by Goodman, including another spectacular converted try as part of his 20-point haul, pushed Tasman to a 30-20 lead after 13 minutes.
Anscombe again reduced the margin to 30-23, leaving Parkes to almost help secure a draw. This time, though, Anscombe couldn't deliver.
Bright acknowledged the efforts of his team-mates on his special night.
"It was pretty special just to play my 50th game on Trafalgar Park, and to get that victory just made it even better," he said.
"We came off at halftime and a lot of us were blowing really hard ... but we came out in the second 40 and ground it out and got a good victory.
"I'm just stoked for the boys. My 50th is special, but I'm happy for them to get the win as well."
It was also a special occasion for Wheeler. "It's always special beating one of those big five [teams]," he said. "But I don't know – it's probably more entertaining doing it the way we do it than winning it easily, eh? I think the crowd enjoy it a bit more. Keep them on the edge of their seat.
"It was a great performance, and it's been building. It's a shame that it's taken us this long to get where we're at, and hopefully in the off-season we can review that and fix that."
Head coach Kieran Keane finally expressed some relief after a series of frustrating results.
"It has to be said that we have been improving throughout the season," said Keane.
"We had a poor start, but personally, I felt that we were ready for this one and converted a lot of opportunities.
"I think we're getting there. The close nature of the games recently indicated that to myself and to [assistant coach] Leon [MacDonald], and today we converted opportunities and we scored some magnificent tries. A coach can only be thrilled by that – but then, we nearly gave it away."
He said his players finally produced the performance they were capable of.
"There were a lot of brilliant individual performances but collectively, we didn't leak a lot of tries like we've done in the past and we had a lot more resolve on D [defence], our set pieces really improved and we've got faith in what we're doing.