Outstanding Auckland centre Rieko Ioane scored a second consecutive hat-trick in a sparkling 54-17 demolition job to flatten Otago, the hat-trick saw Ioane became just the fourth player in history to score consecutive national provincial championship hat-tricks.
Auckland punished an error-riddled Otago side with their game-breaking backs and had a bonus point before the halftime break. Led by a classy performance by captain Simon Hickey, the home side never trailed and ran in seven tries to two in the blow out, which also saw them retain the Lin Colling Memorial Trophy.