Wests Tigers have recorded the biggest win in Auckland Nines history — thrashing the Gold Coast Titans 26-0 in their second pool match of the 2015 competition.
The match started out in perfect fashion for Jason Taylor's men, with Josh Drinkwater collecting a sharp offload from Sauaso Sue to score in the Bonus Zone after just two minutes — giving Pat Richards the simplest of conversions for a 7-0 lead.
That was soon doubled not long after when young hooker Manaia Cherrington burst through to again score in the Bonus Zone in the sixth minute.
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Gold Coast threatened to hit back just before half-time when James Roberts burst through on to a kick; however, the speedster was unable to hang on and the chance went begging.
Neil Henry's men would live to rue that missed opportunity when an inch-perfect kick from Drinkwater allowed Simona to cross for his second try of the tournament — planting the ball down untouched out wide to push the lead to 18-0.
Young gun Salesi Funaki would soon extend that lead even further to 22-0 when he barged over out wide with two minutes remaining in the match.
Simona would be unable to add the extras, but it would hardly matter as Wests Tigers again crossed in the final seconds of the match — a wonderful tip-on from man-of-the-match Drinkwater allowing Asipeli Fine to extend the lead to 26-0.
The win saw Wests Tigers not only become the first time at the 2015 Auckland Nines to keep a clean sheet, but also record the biggest winning margin in Auckland Nines history.
Wests Tigers will now square off against the competition favourites, New Zealand Warriors, tomorrow morning at 10:50am AEDT for top spot in the Hunua Pool.
