Auckland put Manawatu to the sword

Hat-trick hero: Charles Piutau

Auckland returned to the victory trail with a convincing 59-16 win over Manawatu at Eden Park on Sunday.

The home side were in a rampant mood and ran in eight tries with Charles Piutau leading the charge with a hat-trick of tries.

George Moala was closely behind with a brace of his own and captain Hadleigh Parkes, Nepia Fox-Matamua and Gareth Anscombe also crossed the whitewash.

Anscombe added six conversions and a penalty to finish with a haul of 20 points.

The visitors were competitive during the early stages of the match but Auckland took control of proceedings as the match progressed. Manawatu's solitary try was scored in the first half by Callum Gibbins after good work in the build-up from New Zealand Sevens star Tomasi Cama.

The scorers:

For Auckland:
Tries: Piutau 3, Moala 2, Parkes, Fox-Matamua, Anscombe
Cons: Anscombe 6, Hickey 2
Pen: Anscombe

For Manawatu:
Try: Gibbins
Con: Clare
Pens: Clare 3

Auckland: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Ben Lam, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Hadleigh Parkes (c), 11 George Moala, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Nepia Fox-Matamua, 6 Steve Luatua, 5 Andrew van der Heijden, 4 Sean Brookman, 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasi, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Pauliasi Manu.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Vella, 17 Angus Ta'avao, 18 Nathan Hughes, 19 Joe Edwards, 20 Auvasa Faleali'i, 21 Simon Hickey, 22 Lolagi Visinia.

Manawatu: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Craig Clare, 13 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 12 Frank Bryant, 11 George Tilsley, 10 Junior Tomasi Cama, 9 Karl Bryson, 8 Hamish Gosling, 7 Callum Gibbins, 6 Nick Crosswell (c), 5 Michael Fitzgerald, 4 Fraser Stone, 3 David Te Moana, 2 Rob Foreman, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements: 16 Bryn Templeman, 17 Ma'afu Fia/Jared Brock, 18 Reece Robinson, 19 James Oliver/Antonio Kirikiri, 20 Papa Wharewera, 21 Jason Emery, 22 Lewis Marshall.