NPC : Bay of Plenty smashed by Auckland
Huw Turner
September 8, 2002

Auckland scored an emphatic 51-8 victory over the Bay of Plenty at Eden Park on Sunday afternoon.

Competitive for much of the first half , until a Stensness try, converted by Spencer, took the interval score to 17-8, the Bay collapsed after the break , succumbing to a young Auckland side very much on the up.

There is a body of opinion in Auckland that the NPC side is really being coached by Graham Henry , and two of his players from the glory days on the 1996/97 Auckalnd Blues Super 12 side, Lee Stensness and Eroni Clarke , are very much to the fore in this resurgence of form. The shifting of Stensness to first five, and the moving backwards of Carlos Spencer to full back, has reignited the play of both. Stensness ' All Black days are long gone , but Spencer must have a real chance of a recall for the end of season tour to Europe. The extra space he gets on the counter attack means that his pace becomes a real weapon , defences vulnerable to his armoury of tricks and sleights of hand. Stensness , for his part, is using his experience and exquisite timing of his pass to feed those outside him.

Auckland scored seven tries in all, and even though they lost their way in the second quarter as the Bay showed how competitive they can be, they refound their form in the second period to ensure it was all one way traffic.


Scorers :

Auckland : 51 : Tries , Atiga, Stensness, Mealamu, Tanivula, Muliaina, Collins, Braid. Conversions : Spencer ( 5 ) Penalties : Spencer ( 2 ).

Bay of Plenty : 8 Try : Weedon Penalty : Jackson

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices