Louie Chapman celebrates. Photo: ActionPress
Auckland have let victory literally slip from their grasp for the second week in a row, going down 19-15 to Canterbury in Christchurch.
A try by Jone Rova with 10 minutes to play put Canterbury ahead, with the centre collecting a Johnny McNicholl kick and sliding across a wet Apollo Projects Stadium turf to get the ball down.
This will be a bitter defeat for Auckland to deal with, as they had played all the rugby in the first half and should've gone into the break with a two score lead. After conceding an early lineout drive try, finished by Canterbury hooker Nick Hyde, they took control and sent Cody Vai over for a well worked try in the 26th minute.
Fellow wing Xavier Tito-Harris showed his pace to finish off a nice set piece move not long after, before Vai bagged a double after some lovely lead up work by Xavi Taele and Rico Simpson.
Crucially, Simpson couldn't convert any of them - while it ended up being the difference between winning and losing, they were all from hard up against the touchline, on a windy and rainy night.
Just as crucially, Canterbury took their first chance of the second half when Zach Gallagher muscled over off another attacking lineout. That made the score 15-14, and the game developed into a tense and skilful affair despite the challenging conditions.
However, it was the conditions that played a big role in Rova's heroics, and Canterbury simply played better defence from then on, not letting Auckland anywhere near their line.
To their credit, Auckland have plenty to be proud of in the loss, not least Vai's excellent performance and a captain's effort once again by Anton Segner.
Rova and Chay Fihaki were the pick of the Canterbury backs on both sides of the ball, while Tom Christie and Corey Kellow were outstanding in the loose.
The result comes a week after Auckland's last minute loss to Waikato, they host Taranaki next weekend at Eden Park. Canterbury head to Tauranga to face Bay of Plenty in what should be an intriguing match between two in-form sides.
Read how the game unfolded here:
