Auckland defend the Shield

Whitewash: Daniel Braid claims his try

Auckland defended the Ranfurly Shield on Sunday and claimed the Air New Zealand Cup points after grinding out a 22-6 win against Taranaki at Eden Park on Sunday.

Auckland dominated possession and territory in the opening 40 minutes but were only 10-6 up at the break after some excellent scrambling defence by the visitors and some wayward passing.

Taranaki made 90 tackles in the first half alone and never even made it into the opposition 22, while Auckland made eight tackles in the same period and were camped in the visitors' half.

Taranaki's attacking opportunities were few and far between in the second spell too but they remained resilient on defence.

Livewire wing David Smith was in the thick of the action for Auckland, though he was largely contained by the Taranaki defence, and was denied a certain try in the second half when Paul Perez shoved him into touch as he dived for the line.

Auckland also dominated in the line-out, stealing seven of Taranaki's throws, while the visitors wasted another three opportunities by not throwing the ball in straight.

The early exchanges produced a penalty apiece for the teams' respective fly-halves - Taranaki pivot Willie Ripia and Auckland's Lachlan Munro.

Auckland fullback Jamie Helleur, who played against Taranaki last week as a loan player for North Harbour, then butchered a certain try when he knocked on with the line begging.

The wealth of possession finally produced a try for the home side after 16 minutes when Munro ghosted through a gap in midfield, fired the ball inside to openside flanker Daniel Braid, who ran in under the posts.

Munro added the conversion to give his side a 10-3 lead which was cut to four points minutes later when Ripia slotted his second penalty of the game.

Auckland were relentless on attack for the remaining 20 minutes of the first half but failed to turn the pressure into points as Munro missed three successive penalties, the last one from right in front of the posts.

Five minutes after the re-start lock Stan Haukinima crossed the whitewash for Auckland's second try which Munro converted for a 17-6 lead.

Taranaki then enjoyed a small period of possession but could do little with it as their strike runners were left isolated, ran into a blue and white wall or turned the ball over at the breakdown or through poor kicking.

In the end, Auckland simply stepped up a gear and after Smith had been denied, Helleur made amends for his earlier error to touch down near the corner for the final try of the game.

The scorers:

For Auckland:

Tries: Braid, Haukinima, Helleur

Cons: L Munro 2

Pens: L Munro

For Taranaki:

Pens: Ripia 2

Auckland: 15 Jamie Helleur, 14 Jarek Goebel, 13 Winston Stanley, 12 Ben Atiga (c), 11 David Smith, 10 Lachie Munro, 9 Taniela Moa, 8 Peter Saili, 7 Daniel Braid, 6 Kurtis Haiu, 5 Jay Williams, 4 Stanley Haukinima, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Paea Fa'anunu .

Replacements: 16 Pauliasi Manu, 17 Nick White, 18 Dean Budd, 19 Onosa'i Auva'a , 20 Brenton Helleur, 21 Ash Moeke, 22 Simon Munro.

Taranaki: 15 Asalemo Malo, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Nathan Hohaia, 12 Cory Niwa, 11 Shayne Austin, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Brett Goodin, 8 Taiasina Tuifua, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Jason Eaton, 5 Craig Clarke, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Hamish Mitchell, 2 Laurence Corlett, 1 Tony Penn (c).

Replacements: 16 James Annabell, 17 Shane Cleaver, 18 Nemia Soqeta, 19 Alex Tulou, 20 Brendon Haami, 21Jonathan Spratt, 22 Jack Cameron.

Referee: Lyndon Bray

Assistant referees: Garratt Williamson, Glenn Newman

TMO: Ben Skeen