5 Sep 2010

Auckland beat Taranaki despite messy first half

5:24 pm on 5 September 2010

The Auckland rugby team recovered from a messy first half to beat Taranaki 27-13 in their National Provincial match at Eden Park.

Neither team was able to create significant chances in the first half, with both teams giving away easy penalties and Auckland took a slim 6-3 lead into half-time.

But in the second-half, Auckland looked like a different team, moving the ball at speed and creating opportunities for the backs to score.

While Taranaki stayed in touch with Auckland, they never looked like threatening the home side's lead after the half-time kick-off.

Auckland's win moves them ahead of Taranaki to fifth on the standings, while the black and gold's sit on equal points in sixth.