Scrappy Auckland denied bonus point

Try time!: Sam Tuitupou touches down for Auckland

Auckland failed to pick up a bonus point in their 22-13 over a gallant Taranaki outfit, but continued its unbeaten run in the Air New Zealand Cup, in a scrappy game at Eden Park on Friday.

Sam Tuitupou, Saimone Taumoepeau and Brad Mika all scored tries for Auckland while Taranaki scored in the last minute of play through wing Paul Perez when down to 14-men.

The win handed Taranaki its fourth consecutive loss of the season, but the visitors take consolation for their hard effort to deny Auckland a four-try bonus point.

When referee Gary Wise got proceedings underway, it was all Taranaki as the blue and whites were pushed hard on their defence that led to some big holes being exposed.

Auckland looked rattled and certainly didn't aid its battle with an abundance of school-boy handling errors in the opening ten minutes.

It was no surprise then that Taranaki were the first to get the scoreboard ticking thanks to a well-taken penalty kick by full-back Scott Ireland in the ninth minute.

But Auckland centre Sam Tuitupou grabbed the advantage back for Auckland in the 23rd minute after a stunning solo run saw the home team's skipper step past everyone for a superb five-pointer beneath the posts.

Neither side really asserted themselves as the first half ticked down, Aucks' full-back Brent Ward and Ireland exchanged penalty shots before heading into the sheds.

At half-time Auckland led by a narrow 10-6 margin and Taranaki were still well in the game.

Auckland started the second half a bit better than they did the first and took little time to notch up their second try. Big Saimone Taumoepeau stretched out for his side's second try after some prolonged pressure told on Taranaki's line.

Taumoepeau took advantage of Tory Flavell's sleight of hand in a line-out drive to pick up the ball from the ruck and place it on the chalk dust to score.

That took the sting out of Taranaki which found itself 11 points off the pace with no way of getting through the home defences.

And the hosts continued to show some swagger, another try from replacement loose forward Brad Mika pushing Auckland out to a 22-6 lead with 20 minutes remaining.

The last minute try was good reward for Taranaki for its determination and application and came after good assessment of the situation by replacement halfback Mark Stewart, who seized the chance to put Perez into space after he had been several times denied opportunities when receiving forward passes.

For Auckland it was a case of not quite being able to show the precision that has marked the earlier games in the competition.

The scorers:

For Auckland:

Tries: Tuitupou, Taumoepeau, Mika

Cons: Ward 2 con, pen)

Pen: Ward

For Taranaki:

Try: Perez

Con: Ireland

Pens: Ireland 2

The teams:

Auckland: 15 Brent Ward, 14 Benson Stanley, 13 Ben Atiga, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 David Smith, 10 Isa Nacewa, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Troy Flavell, 5 Jay Williams, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 John Afoa, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Saimone Taumoepeau

Replacements: 16 Nick White, 17 Chris Heard, 18 Stan Haukinima, 19 Bradley Mika, 20 Onosa'i Tololima-Auva'a, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Lachie Munro

Taranaki: 15 Scott Ireland, 14 Shayne Austin, 13 Nathan Hohaia, 12 Matt Harvey, 11 Paul Perez, 10 Jack Cameron, 9 Brett Goodin, 8 Tomasi Soqeta, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Jarrod Hoeata, 5 Craig Clarke, 4 Courtney MacKay, 3 Hamish Mitchell, 2 James Annabell, 1 Tony Penn (c)

Replacements: 16 Lawrence Corlett, 17 Daniel Middlemiss, 18 Leon Power, 19 Ray Stark, 20 Matt France, 21 Mark Stewart, 22 Asalemo Malo

Referee: Gary Wise

Television match official: Lyndon Bray

Assessor: Glenn Wahlstrom