Patrick Tuipulotu has made a stunning return to the domestic rugby scene, scoring a hat trick in his first outing for Auckland in 2018 during their top-of-the-table clash with Tasman.
The All Blacks and Blues lock scored all three of his tries in the first half as he made his power known with four broken tackles.
His best of the three tries was his second - a 40m run that came after Auckland recovered a bouncing kick and put Tuipulotu in space.
He bumped off one tackler as he broke into the back field before sprinting towards the posts to score.
Tuipulotu's performance appeared to inspire Auckland, as they went on to comfortably win the fixture at Eden Park 36-10.
With the win, they are now the only undefeated province in 2018 with four wins in their first four games.
Tasman on the other will drop to third in the Premiership standings after they failed to secure a bonus point, leaving them behind Auckland and Canterbury.
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