Auckland began their Farah Palmer Cup campaign in style after they beat Taranaki 38-0 in a six try demolition.

Theresa Fitzpatrick scored two for her side while Cristo Tofa, Eloise Blackwell, Nathalia Moors and L Mikaele-Tu'u all crashed over the whitewash.

With Patricia Maliepo adding four conversions, the game was won easily and Taranaki will be hoping to make a better impact on their next outing.

Other matches this weekend in the opener of the New Zealand tournament saw Counties Manukau dominate North Harbour 89-3 and Waikato inflicted a 18-5 victory on Northland.

The next round of the cup will take place next weekend and will see current champions Canterbury get their title defence underway away against Manawatu on Saturday.