Wellington v Otago 1986 and 1989

Above: Wellington and Otago play for the Mke Gibson Memorial Trophy at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Thursday night. Photo: Dave Lintott Photography.

Since the National Provincial Championship’s inception in 1976 the Wellington Lions and Otago have had many tight NPC battles over the years, such as these two matches highlighted below.

1986: Wellington 30 – Otago 6

In 1986 the Lions went through unbeaten to win the competition, starting with an opening round 30-6 win over Otago. The following week they beat defending champions Auckland 23-12 at home in front of a crowd of 25,000, setting up a string of wins.

It was a tough assignment for the Lions to draw Otago away and big guns Auckland at home in their opening two games. The Lions flew to Dunedin having not played a match together for over a month, whereas Otago were playing their fifth competition game. In a crazy competition format, Otago had already lost by a point to Taranaki, beaten Southland, North Auckland (Northland) and Wairarapa Bush.

So it took Otago by surprise when the Lions pack came out and threw everything at them like a well-oiled machine. Captain and prop Kevin Boroevich, flanker Fraser Mexted and lock Murray Pierce – who was to the Player of the Day – rattled Otago. Still, it was a mighty close contest, Wellington leading 10-6 deep into the match and the Mike Brewer-led Otago having blown a couple of clear scoring chances.

With the clock running down, Wellington strapped on their reserve tank and piled on 18 unanswered points. Flankers Mark Hudson and Mexted, wing Mike Clamp and Pierce scored the tries, while new fullback John Gallagher kicked two penalties and four conversions.  

As well as beating Auckland the following week, there were also notable wins over Canterbury (22-16) and Taranaki (25-21) at home and a big away win at Masterton in the last game against then first division powerhouse Wairarapa-Bush (39-9).

1989: Wellington 27 – Otago 11

Wellington’s win over Otago at Athletic Park in 1989 was a bright light in a generally disappointing season that saw the team finish seventh.

Things weren’t going well for the side when they prepared to face Otago in this penultimate round clash. They’d just been beaten 48-11 by Canterbury and Neil Sorenson resigned as captain midweek with Mike O’Leary taking the reins. In a rearranged backline, coach Alan Muir recalled John Hainsworth at centre.

The Laurie Mains-coached Otago were faring better and destined for a mid-table finish above Wellington, but they had several of their players out injured. They were coming off a 13-13 draw with North Auckland.

Wellington also had history in its favour, Otago having only won once at Athletic Park since 1900.

Mike Gibson had been a hard-running centre, who played representative matches for both Wellington and Otago. In 1988 he had died of Leukemia, aged 27.

In his honour, Gibson’s Bay of Plenty-based family commissioned a trophy to be played annually between Wellington and Otago and his parents and several family members brought it down to present it to the inaugural winner. The trophy was carved by Winiata Tapsell, a grandson of Winiata Tapsell who played for New Zealand Maori against the Springboks in 1921. 

Unlike previous matches, Wellington played with steady composure against Otago in this fixture. Hainsworth’s inclusion was justified when he ran in to score late in the first half to give Wellington an 18-point lead at the turnaround. Otago came back to score tries to backs Arthur Stone and John Timu, but John Gallagher kicked further penalties and midfielder John Schuster crossed late for the clincher.

Wellington v Otago 2016 fast facts:

Otago goes into this Thursday’s 2016 clash as Mike Gibson Memorial Trophy holders having beaten the Lions 37-36 in last year’s sixth round fixture.

Wellington reversed this win in the championship semi-final, winning 34-14.

Going into this match, Wellington has played Otago 38 times previously in the NPC competition, with Wellington winning 21, losing 15 and drawing two of these.

Wellington won its first eight ITM Cup encounters with Otago between 1976 and 1983, but Otago beat Wellington in eight out of nine successive ITM Cup matches between 1990 and 1998. The other match was drawn.

The two NPC draws between Wellington and Otago were in 1993 (20-20) and in 2004 (16-16).
In 2012 Matt Proctor scored the first and only hat-trick by a Wellington player against Otago; Brendan Laney scored three tries for Otago against Wellington in 1998.

Before the start of the ITM Cup era from 1976, the two unions had met on 72 occasions with Wellington winning 42 times, Otago 23 and with seven draws. In all they have met 114 times, with 65 wins for Wellington, 9 draws and 40 victories for Otago.

Wellington and Otago first met at Wellington on 24 July 1883. This was notable for being the first match between two North Island and South Island unions.

In all NPC matches before this one, Wellington has scored 857 points and 111 tries against Otago and Otago has scored 766 points and scored 84 tries against Wellington.

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