Waikato will face Canterbury in the ITM Cup Final after snatching victory in injury time to beat Auckland 38-37 at Eden Park on Saturday.

Auckland hearts were broken as Waikato replacement hooker Hikairo Forbes powered over from close range, which then allowed pivot Trent Renata to kick the match-winning conversion that takes his team to Christchurch next Friday.

MATCH TRACKER

82 minutes
CONVERSION WAIKATO – 10m to the right of the posts, Renata takes all the time he needs then lets rip! The kick is good! Waikato snatches victory and will head to the final beating Auckland 38-37

80 minutes

TRY WAIKATO – What a try! On the stroke of full time the big Waikato forwards muscle up and bash their way over the line, it is Forbes who comes up with the try. Pressure kick to come!

73 minutes
PENALTY GOAL WAIKATO – Renata, from 48m out, strikes the ball truly to get Waikato to within a converted try to win the game. Auckland leads 37-31

70 minutes

CONVERSION AUCKLAND – What a kick! 1m in from touch, Anscombe shows no nerves as he sails the ball between the posts to give Auckland an important lead 37-28

69 minutes
TRY AUCKLAND – Ward spots a gap and takes it! He then draws in the fullback and passes to Raui who motors on 50m to score in the corner. Kick to come, Auckland leads 35-28

63 minutes
PENALTY GOAL AUCKLAND – The penalty count has really mounted up against Waikato, Anscombe delivers another huge kick from 45m out in front to put Auckland in the lead 30-28

57 minutes

CONVERSION AUCKLAND – An important kick is made to look easy by Anscombe as he routinely slots the ball between the posts to bring Auckland to within 1 point. Waikato leads 28-27
TRY AUCKLAND – This game is far from over, Faleali’i has only been on the field 2 minutes and gets on the score board with a brilliant half backs try from 20m out. Waikato leads 28-25

55 minutes
TRY WAIKATO – Waikato play the numbers game out wide, some superb passing sees the ball go to Speight who Bumps Ward to score the try in the corner. Waikato leads 28-20

51 minutes
PENALTY GOAL AUCKLAND – Hands in the ruck costs Waikato as Anscombe regains his kicking mojo with a truly struck kick from 40m out, 5m in from touch. Waikato leads narrowly 23-20

45 minutes
TRY WAIKATO -It started way back with a Lam turnover, the ball was then spread to Sweeney who stepped his way into the Auckland 22m before passing into Graham who scores the try.

2nd Half started

Half Time

40 minutes
CONVERSION WAIKATO – Renata puts his side into the lead on the stroke of half time with a well executed conversion from 8m to the left of the posts. Waikato leads 18-17

39 minutes
TRY WAIKATO – A stolen lineout got the forwards buzzing from 20m out, a solid drive then got then up and over the line with Waqaniburotu claiming the try. Kick to come, Auckland leads 17-16

CONVERSION AUCKLAND – Anscombe, 8m in from touch, poises himself well then delivers a pin point kick to extended the lead even more for his side. Auckland leads 17-11

34 minutes
TRY AUCKLAND – The home side fires back with Moli bumping off 2 defenders then offloading to Morland who scores the try untouched from 5m out. Kick to come, Auckland leads 15-11

31 minutes
TRY WAIKATO – The visitors are on a roll with a well worked move down the blindside, the Waratahs bound Anesi finishes it off with a brilliant pick and go from 5m out. Waikato leads 11-10

26 minutes

PENALTY GOAL WAIKATO – Territory pays off as Waikato finally come away with points through the boot of Renata from 20m out in front. Auckland leads 10-6

18 minutes
PENALTY GOAL AUCKLAND – Waikato are getting bashed up at the breakdown and frustration is settling in. Anscombe strikes the ball truly from 30m out to increase the lead. Auckland leads 10-3

09 minutes

CONVERSION AUCKLAND – Anscombe makes up for his previous miss with a well struck conversion from 8m to the right of the posts. Auckland leads 7-3

Picking a winner between Auckland and Waikato will be tough ahead of the second ITM Cup semi-final of the weekend at Eden Park.

08 minutes
TRY AUCKLAND – Solo effort! Captain Stanley puts the step on Willison then palms off Anesi 5m out to score a brilliant try. Kick to come, Auckland leads 5-0

04 minutes
PENALTY GOAL WAIKATO – The visitors get on the board first through the boot of Renata from 30m out after Auckland were offside at the breakdown. Waikato leads 3-0

08:00 – 10:15   Supersport 1                ITM Cup: SF 2 – Auckland v Waikato

One thing that is certain though, is that one of these two sides will face Canterbury in the Final next weekend after an incredible shoot-out in Christchurch saw the defending champs beat Wellington 57-41.

The high-scoring knock-out clash certainly raised the bar ahead of Saturday’s meeting in the North Island, but with Auckland boasting the best defensive record in the tournament this year (their line was breached just 16 times during the 13 weeks of the round-robin competition), it’s safe to say we won’t be seeing a repeat of Friday’s entertaining points spree.

It’s no surprise then that Auckland see their defensive resilience as a key weapon towards securing their first national provincial final since 2007.

“Defence has been a strong part of our game,” said Auckland coach Mark Anscombe.

“Again if we get the work done up front, deprive them of possession at crucial times and look after the ball when we have it, we can frustrate them and frustrate them into not getting the go-forward, open-space ball they desire.”

Waikato let in 27 tries this season, eleven more than their hosts, but the two sides are dead even when it came to scoring tries – both touching down for 37 five-pointers each.

Tries aside, little seperates Auckland and Waikato in total points produced so far in 2010 with the former leading by 352 points to the Mooloos’ 351. Auckland finding their scoring mojo in the last month and running up four consecutive 30-pointers on its way to second place on the table.

With Waikato missing points machine Stephen Donald to the All Blacks, the Aucklanders will be wary of another player waiting in the wings that is no stranger to forking out double figures.

For Anscombe, closing down Waikato early is all the more important given the inclusion of All Blacks winger Sitiveni Sivivatu in the opposition starting line-up.

“We can’t afford to given him space and time with the ball,” Anscombe said.

“Even though it’s only his second game back, he’s a dangerous man and he showed signs of that last week.”

The Mooloo Men go into the match on the back of a dominant 26-6 victory over Canterbury last weekend, stretching their winning streak to five in the process.

That result and their recent form would have put them in a confident frame of mind as they head into their showdown with their near neighbours.

The visitors hold the phycological advantage too. In the round robin phase, Waikato beat Auckland 21-18 in early August, with winger Dwayne Sweeney scoring the winning try just before full-time.

However, Waikato have only twice defeated Auckland in two consecutive games on Eden Park. The most recent occurrence was in 1992 when Waikato defeated Auckland in the semi-final of the NPC – then 1993 to relieve Auckland of the Ranfurly Shield. The earlier double was in 1954-55.

That said – history counts for little in a sudden death scenario.

The teams:

Auckland: 15 Brent Ward, 14 Chay Raui/Dave Thomas, 13 Ben Atiga, 12 Benson Stanley (c), 11 Atieli Pakalani, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Toby Morland, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Sean Polwart, 6 Onosa’i Auva’a, 5 Liaki Moli, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Tevita Mailau.

Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Angus Ta’avao, 18 Steven Luatua, 19 Chris Lowrey, 20 Auvasa Faleali’i, 21 Matt Berquist, 22 Winston Stanley.

Waikato: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu/Henry Speight, 13 Save Tokula, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Dwayne Sweeney, 10 Trent Renata, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Alex Bradley, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Nathan White (c), 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Toby Smith.

Replacements: 16, Hikairo Forbes, 17 Ben May, 18 Kent Fife, 19 Zak Hohneck, 20 Malcolm Barnes, 21 Christian Lealiifano, 22 Henry Speight/ Tim Mikkelson.

In the round robin phase, Waikato beat Auckland 21-18 in early August, with winger Dwayne Sweeney scoring the winning try just before full-time.

However, Waikato have only twice defeated Auckland in two consecutive games on Eden Park. The most recent occurrence was in 1992 when Waikato defeated Auckland in the semi-final of the NPC – then 1993 to relieve Auckland of the Ranfurly Shield. The earlier double was in 1954-55.

That said – history counts for little in a sudden death scenario.

The teams:

Auckland: 15 Brent Ward, 14 Chay Raui/Dave Thomas, 13 Ben Atiga, 12 Benson Stanley (c), 11 Atieli Pakalani, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Toby Morland, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Sean Polwart, 6 Onosa’i Auva’a, 5 Liaki Moli, 4 Kurtis Haiu, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Tevita Mailau.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Angus Ta’avao, 18 Steven Luatua, 19 Chris Lowrey, 20 Auvasa Faleali’i, 21 Matt Berquist, 22 Winston Stanley.

Waikato: 15 Sosene Anesi, 14 Sitiveni Sivivatu/Henry Speight, 13 Save Tokula, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Dwayne Sweeney, 10 Trent Renata, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Alex Bradley, 7 Jack Lam, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Nathan White (c), 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16, Hikairo Forbes, 17 Ben May, 18 Kent Fife, 19 Zak Hohneck, 20 Malcolm Barnes, 21 Christian Lealiifano, 22 Henry Speight/ Tim Mikkelson.