Fifty-seven years: Hawke's Bay finally win at Eden Park again

Some droughts are longer than the players who end them have been alive. Twice over.

Hawke's Bay beat Auckland 44-31 at Eden Park on Saturday for their first national championship win on that ground in 57 years. The last one was 6-3, in 1969, in the final season of the Bay's great 1966 to 1969 Ranfurly Shield era. Since then they have been back plenty of times. The closest they had come was a 34-34 draw in 2010.

Saturday was the 82nd meeting between the two unions. It was also the Magpies' third win in a row over Auckland, which tells you this is not a fluke result.

How it happened

It started badly for Auckland and then got worse. Inside the opening five minutes lock Josh Beehre was shown a 20-minute red card, in an incident that also left Hawke's Bay hooker Tyrone Thompson injured. Hawke's Bay took the penalty, went to the corner, and Zarn Sullivan was over in the fourth minute. Seven-nil after five, a man up.

Auckland's response was better than the scoreboard suggests. Xavi Taele scored twice in the first half and Harlyn Saunoa got another, and somehow it was 17-17 at the break despite Auckland losing flanker Randall Baker to a yellow card just before halftime as well.

The Bay pulled clear after the break. Cooper Flanders, a flanker, scored his second of the afternoon on 53 minutes. Harry Godfrey went over on 58. Stephen Perofeta kept Auckland in it with two second-half tries of his own, but Sullivan's second on 72 minutes settled the argument.

Six tries to five, and the difference was the boot. Godfrey finished with 19 points, four conversions from six plus two penalties plus his try, the single biggest contribution of the game.

What it says

Hawke's Bay are now the only unbeaten side in the competition. Three from three, top of the ladder on 15 points, with 146 points scored. That is a genuine start to a season.

And credit where it is due to Auckland. Playing most of a match at Eden Park a man down, against the form team of the competition, and still scoring 31 points and five tries takes some doing. Perofeta in particular played like a man who refused to accept the situation. They sit ninth, which flatters nobody, but there is a side in there.

For the Magpies, though, this is the one they will talk about. Fifty-seven years is a long time to wait for an away win, and it fell to this group to end it.