• Auckland have claimed back-to-back victories with a nervy win at Eden Park
• First-half tries from Salesi Rayasi and Rieko Ioane were enough to secure the victory

Auckland have survived a scare in the second half at Eden Park to record a hard-fought win over the previously high-flying Bay of Plenty Steamers. Two tries to Salesi Rayasi and one to Rieko Ioane was enough for Auckland to claim the four competition points.

The opening ten minutes set the tone for the evening with tries from each side showing a real willingness to attack from the off at an overcast Eden Park.

Bay of Plenty were first on the board with flanker Mitch Karpik burrowing his way over from close-range. Second-five Dan Hollinshed was able to add the extra two from the boot.

Auckland then responded with one of their own in opposing fashion. Caleb Clarke broke from deep, ending with D’Angelo Leuila falling agonisingly short. Leuila wasn’t disheartened however, and responded a few phases later with a pin-point cross-kick finding Salesi Rayasi who stood up his opposite to crash over in the corner.

Rayasi was then in again at the 18-minute mark courtesy of smart short-side play by Jonathan Ruru. The Auckland halfback was able to draw in the two blindside defenders and pop a deft pass over the top for Rayasi to acrobatically dive over wide-out once again.

The next man over the line for the home side was none other than All Black Rieko Ioane. The flying winger was able to show off his trademark pace courtesy of a move gone wrong by Bay of Plenty – a misplaced pass delivering the ball on a platter for Ioane to intercept and streak away underway the crossbar.

The next action saw the whistle blown for the end of the half and Auckland headed to the sheds with a handy 12-point advantage.

The second half started with both teams having several opportunities to open the scoring, but the last pass seemingly always going slightly astray.

Bay of Plenty went down to 14 men as well early on with Chase Tiatia judged to have taken out Caleb Clarke in the air as the young winger was leaping to take the ball from a cross-field kick.

It wasn’t until the 61^st minute that Bay of Plenty were able to put the first points on the board in the second stanza with Dan Hollinshead on hand to narrow the gap from the tee.

With just under 8 minutes to go, Auckland lost a man of their own to the bin with Hoskins Sotutu sent from the field for a professional foul close to the line. Sotutu’s night was done and Auckland were forced to battle it out in the closing stages a man down, and only a 9-point advantage.

Dan Hollinshead was able to slot another penalty with only two minutes to play to set-up a nervy finish with the Steamers now within striking distance.

From the kick-off, Auckland were able to force a knock-on and hold on to the ball and claim a hard-fought win over a gallant Bay of Plenty side.

Auckland 19 (S Rayasi 2, R Ioane tries; D Leuila 2 conversions)

Bay of Plenty 13 (M Karpik try; D Hollinshead conversion; D Hollinshead 2 penalties)

Halftime: 19-7