16 October 2024
It was a tight battle for the National Men’s Premiership title with the game decision coming down to golden point in over time.
Opening the scoring was the Counties Manukau Stingrays with a converted try. A tough back and forth ensued with the Auckland Vulcans finally breaking through Counties Manukau’s defence with a dominant try.
Counties Manukau gained momentum to score two more try’s ahead of half time to bring the score to 16-4.
The second half was dominated by Auckland, scoring four tries to Counties Manukau’s one. A skirmish saw a player from each team yellow carded, seeing both teams play out most of the last moments of the game with just 12 players. Auckland’s comeback however brought the score to 22-22 at the 80th minute, sending the game into golden point overtime to decide the winner.
Pushing Counties Manukau back into their own territory, Auckland were able to kick a drop goal from in front of the posts to secure the win 23-22.
