Auckland could not capitalise on a vigorous opening quarter in Nelson and fell 31-18 to a resurgent Tasman Makos.

The home side coped far better with the greasy, wet conditions, leading 19-6 at halftime and controlling the second stanza to seal its Premiership semifinal berth.

On a sodden Trafalgar Park, Auckland seized the early initiative via two Jono Hickey penalty goals, and a good attitude and work ethic from the pack. The handling was slick. Prop Marcel Renata nearly scored off a Hickey chip into the Makos’ in-goal.

But some injudicious play deep in its half and wayward kicking cost Auckland dearly. Tasman No 7 Vern Fredericks opened the home team’s account out wide after accurate skip passing, while halfback Billy Guyton, known to many of the Auckland boys from his time at the Blues, scored just after Auckland No 8 Akira Ioane had made a trysaving tackle on Makos fullback Will Jordan. An unwise Auckland lineout tap-down saw Fredericks seize the ball and feed Ethan Blackadder for the next score.

Auckland wing Joe Ravouvou was close to the scoresheet when he found himself over the line with the ball underneath him but, in what looked a tight call, the TMO ruled that he did not have control of possession.

The second spell saw Auckland ring the changes, emptying the bench, but not enough could be built off the busy play of Taleni Seu and wing Tumua Manu.

The Makos, in the meantime, kept crossing for tries when they were needed, Jordan finishing off a James Lowe break and lock Shannon Frizell scoring their fifth after nice work on the short side.

In reply, Auckland did score via Seu, who won his lineout and then dived over in the corner off a short Ioane pass. There was some satisfaction for lock Ben Nee-Nee, in his blazer game, scoring his first try for Auckland after Ravouvou had made inroads into the Makos’ defence.

But it was all too late in the final analysis.

Auckland captain TJ Faiane knew his side had played well in patches, but more accuracy and consistency was needed to gain the points against the Makos.

“We couldn’t quite score tries when we needed to. There were missed tackles and mistakes in our systems which cost us,” says Faiane.

Auckland has a short turnaround to prepare for the final game of the season, against old foes Canterbury on Friday night at Eden Park. - Campbell Burnes

Auckland 18 (Taleni Seu, Ben Nee-Nee tries; Harry Plummer con, Jono Hickey 2 pen) Tasman 31 (Vernon Fredericks, Billy Guyton, Ethan Blackadder, Will Jordan, Shannon Frizell tries; Guyton 3 con) HT: 19-6 Tasman