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Recently capped All Black midfielder Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has produced a wicked goose step to stun ex-All Black Liam Messam in the NPC clash between Auckland and Waikato on Friday night.
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The star No 12 has been released from the All Black squad to the Auckland NPC team in order to get more playing time and has been showing flashes of his game-breaking ability in the early rounds so far.
After a slow start in Hamilton which saw the home side jump out to a 10-3 lead, Tuivasa-Sheck produced a magic piece of play to set up his side’s first try to fullback Jordan Trainor.
Facing pressure from the Mooloos No 8, the former NRL fullback skipped to the outside of the loose forward with an explosive goose step before turning the corner up field.
Tuivasa-Sheck found his fullback looming in support with a one-hand offload to level the scores 10-all.
Waikato grabbed the lead again through young fullback Tupaea Cook-Savage and extended the lead to 20-10 ten minutes into the second half with a penalty goal.
Auckland first five Harry Plummer charged down a Damian McKenzie exit kick to get the visitors back into the match with a try under the posts, but Waikato continued to run away with the match.
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A skilful offload from Cook-Savage resulted in a try to flanker Patrick McCurran which extended the lead again before a long-range McKenzie penalty built a 30-15 lead.
The defending champions closed out the game to record their first win over Auckland since 2017.
Gotta love the Auckland hype machine. He's gone past a semi retired 38 year old forward.
The bloke's talented, but he needs to learn the basics.