Auckland Invitational sneak away with the victory with two minutes left in the game.

The 16’s boys Auckland invitational squad played the Aotearoa Whaanui 16’s in the opening game of the Boys Rep Weekend on Sunday at North Harbour stadium. Aotearoa Whaanui started the game hot scoring a try within the first 10 minutes of the game. From there they continued to build momentum by way of quick play the balls and forcing errors. However, Auckland invitational with backs against the wall begun to mount a comeback as playmaker Haami Loza dotted down twice to make the score 12-8 to Aoatearoa Whaanui at the half.

With their halves providing opportunities out wide for their outside backs to score two tries, Aotearoa Whaanui continued to rule the second half as they did the first. A determined Auckland Invitational team scored three tries in the game’s last 10 minutes to win 24-20 after it appeared that all hope was lost.