St George Illawarra and Cronulla have been drawn together in Pool Piha alongside Canberra and the Gold Coast. Follow The Leader’s live coverage below.
5.38pm – Thanks for joining us today. We’ll have a recap on the website soon. And we’ll be back again in the morning from 11am. See you then!
5.37pm – St George Illawarra will play the Titans at 11.05am in the morning, while Cronulla will take on Canberra at 11.30am in their final Pool Piha matches. Cronulla in a strong position to make the quarter-finals.
5.36pm – Full-time Cronulla 17-8 St George Illawarra.
5.35pm – Jack Bird – wow! Another special play to set up Beale who scores a bonus zone try. Sharks lead 17-8 with 30 seconds to go.
5.32pm – Dragons are robbed a certain bonus zone try to Faifai Loa. Ruled to have gone dead in goal, incorrect decision.
5.27pm – Second half kicks off.
5.23pm – Great set from the Dragons ends in points. Kurt Mann with a little kick for Aitken to grab his second out wide. 10-8 Sharks at half-time.
5.21pm – Barba magic! The mercurial fullback with another super individual effort, runs 60 metres to put Cronulla 10-4 up.
5.19pm – Dragons hit back through Euan Aitken. Mitch Rein good out of dummy half to set that up. 6-4 Sharks.
5.17pm – Sharks score first points. Chad Townsend showing good speed to cross out wide. Bird converts, 6-0 Cronulla. Townsend has been outstanding today. Promising sign for Sharks fans.
5.16pm – Dugan saves a certain try. Barba threw a dummy and got himself over, but the Dragons No.1 was there to save the day.
5.15pm – Cronulla kick off and the first local derby of 2016 is underway.
5.00pm – Game won’t start at 5.05pm as scheduled. The Manly v Warriors game ran a bit long. Sharks have named another strong team.
4.58pm – Dragons and Sharks players warming up in Auckland for their clash in game two of Piha Pool.
3.38pm – Ben Barba was one of Cronulla’s best against the Titans.
2.58pm – Jack Bird has started the 2016 Auckland Nines the way he finished last season’s tournament.
2.14pm – Sharkies have set the early pace in Pool Piha. Dragons will want to beat them this afternoon to give themselves a better chance of qualifying for the knockout stage.
2.01pm – Pool Piha games resume at 5.05pm with the local derby between St George Illawarra against Cronulla. You’d think that match will be pretty much a must-win for the Dragons if they are going to advance to the quarter-finals.
2.00pm – Cronulla Sharks captain for the Auckland Nines Chris Heighington.
“We made a few errors early, we just wanted to hold the possession but it didn’t go that way.
“It’s a good first game, we won by a few points [and] the Titans are a strong team.”
1.56pm – How much does Jack Bird love the Auckland Nines?! Last season’s leading try scorer opens his 2016 account with a superb individual effort. Cronulla win 23-12 over the Gold Coast.
1.54pm – Sharks back in front. Great short pass from Kurt Capewell, Mitch Brown scores a bonus zone try from distance. 19-12 Cronulla.
1.53pm – And just like that, its all square. Greg Bird scores for the Gold Coast. 12-all.
1.51pm – Titans back in it. Mead with a try, 12-6 Cronulla.
1.48pm – Second half underway.
1.46pm Half-time Cronulla 12-0 Gold Coast. Not the most inspiring game of Nines football you’ve seen, but the Sharkies are in front.
1.45pm – Try Sharks! Josh Cleeland gets his first try in Sharks colours. Townsend converts, 12-0 Cronulla.
1.40pm – Ben Barba puts Cronulla on the board with an excellent individual try. 6-0 Sharks.
1.36pm – Not the best start for the Sharks, Chad Townsend pinned in goal from the opening kick-off.
1.34pm – Cronulla are up next against the Gold Coast.
1.33pm – Full-time Canberra 28-20 St George Illawarra.
1.32pm – Raiders go back to back through Bateman again. 28-20 Canberra, game over you’d think.
1.31pm – Wow, the Raiders hit straight back. Lachlan Croker under the posts, not sure he got that down. 24-20 Raiders.
1.30pm – Another bonus zone try for the Dragons! Matt Dufty scores a long range try. He can motor! 20-17 Dragons.
1.29pm – Kato Ottio scores for Canberra. 17-13 Raiders.
1.27pm – Hard to keep up! Dragons hit straight back through Kurt Mann. Bonus-point try. 13-all with six minutes to go.
1.26pm – Oh dear, Josh McCrone threw an intercept and the Raiders score through Brenko Lee. 13-6 Raiders.
1.24pm – Canberra take the lead. Luke Bateman scores out wide. 8-6 Raiders.
1.22pm – Half-time St George Illawarra 6-4 Canberra.
1.20pm – Raiders hit straight back through Jordan Rapana 6-4 Dragons.
1.18pm – Kalifa Faifai Loa puts the Dragons in front! 6-0 after five minutes.
1.10pm – The Dragons opening game against Canberra kicks off.
1.00pm – Welcome to The Leader’s live coverage of the 2016 Auckland Nines. St George Illawarra and Cronulla have been drawn tigether in the Piha Pool. The Dragons are up first at 1.10pm against the Canberra Raiders.
