Auckland clung to an Air NZ Cup rugby lifeline by beating Taranaki 10-0 in miserable conditions in New Plymouth tonight.
The result kept the Aucklanders in contention for a semifinals berth while Taranaki now have nothing more than pride at stake in their last two games.
The match was a virtual playoff because Auckland entered the game in seventh position and Taranaki ninth, with the winners surviving to fight another day and the losers being consigned to also-ran status.
Wintry cold, wet, muddy, windy conditions reduced the contest to a messy arm wrestle, one largely confined to two combative forward packs, who went toe to toe for much of the 80 minutes.
Auckland held the upperhand in the trenches, particularly in the second half when halfback Taniela Moa cleverly used a strengthening wind at his back to keep turning Taranaki around.
The appalling conditions dictated that much of the play was confined to in and around the rucks and when and if the ball was aired it was shifted in short passing movements to reduce the likelihood of mistakes.
The strong wind which swept down the ground turned the lineouts into a lottery while handling errors littered both teams' play due to the slippery ball.
Auckland's forwards coped admirably against both the elements and a willing Taranaki pack as the visitors snuck ahead 7-0 while playing into the wind in the first spell.
They engineered a controlled lineout drive during one of their few visits to the opposition 22 before flanker Onosai Auva'a detached to scamper the last 10m on his own in the 19th minute.
Auckland totally dominated the third quarter everywhere but on the scoreboard, with Moa influential as they spent large periods deep on attack.
They were thwarted only by the errors which regularly interrupted play and a desperate Taranaki side who knew their season was on the line.
It seemed only a matter of time before Auckland were rewarded but they were kept waiting until five minutes from fulltime when they forced a penalty inside the 22 for first five-eighth Ash Moeke to convert into points.
