Wellington Lions lose to North Harbour, finish 10th in NPC

Above: Wellington fullback Jason Woodward on the burst, in his last match in New Zealand before heading to Bristol in England for the next stage in his career.

North Harbour 40 (Tevita Li, Glen Preston, Nic Mayhew, Daniel Hilton-Jones tries; Bryn Gatland 4 pen, 4 con) Wellington Lions 37 (Leni Apisai, Wes Goosen, Joe Hill, Asafo Aumua, Sheridan Rangihuna tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 2 pen, 3 con). HT: 20-18

WHAT HAPPENED

The Wellington Lions have finished 10th in the 2016 National Provincial Championship and will return next year to contest the Championship division, after falling 40-37 to North Harbour in this afternoon’s semi-final at Westpac Stadium.

It remains to be seen what the consequences of this finish will be, with the fallout likely to affect the coaching staff and players alike.

In bright sunshine, the Lions will look back on conceding two soft tries at the very start and very end of the first half, and again immediately after halftime, which gave North Harbour the impetus to establish a second half lead and go on and win.

The Lions made a horror start. Harbour flyhalf Bryn Gatland kicked an early penalty for the visitors, before a rush of blood by lock Mark Reddish handed North Harbour the game’s first try on a platter. Reddish threw a shocking pass to no one but North Harbour centre Matt Vaega who in turn handed a pass to flying wing Tevita Li to score under the bar to make it 10-0.

The Lions hit back after 10 minutes after a promising passage of play, Garden-Bachop grubbering a kick through behind the advantage line and happy hooker Leni Apisai sailing through to collect a kind bounce and scoring. Garden-Bachop added the extras from out-wide, cutting the score to 10-7.

Garden-Bachop (2) and Gatland traded penalties to see scores all locked up at 13-13 after 23 minutes.

The Lions backs and forwards combined to score a terrific second try. An old-school 30-metre rolling maul provided impetus for the backs to run at pace. Second Five-eighth Shaun Treeby, made a half break up into the 22 and offloaded a lovely pass to fullback Jason Woodward, who in turn found left wing Wes Goosen who scored the five-pointer.

The horror show resumed immediately before halftime, with the Lions effectively gifting the visitors their second try, scored by blindside flanker Glenn Preston after a 5-metre scrum which should never have been conceded. Lions centre Matt Proctor had turned over a pass on his own side of halfway, but, in a snapshot of their season, they played hot potato with the ball, Harbour regathered, kicked ahead and forced the attacking set-piece.

Gatland’s conversion put the visitors ahead 20-18 at halftime.

Things went from bad to worse immediately after halftime when Harbour forced Wellington into a defensive situation in the corner and prop Nic Mayhew came up with their third try. Gatland slotted the extras to put them up 27-18.

Gatland extended the lead to 30-18 in the 50th minute with his third penalty after Lions flanker Vaea Fifita was penalised tracking back to cover a kick behind Wellington’s advantage line.

Fifita was in the game soon after, making a galloping run up towards the tryline after a penalty and an attacking lineout. Quick recycling saw right wing Joe Hill score in the corner. An all-in brawl erupted in the immediate aftermath of Hill’s try, but it stood and Harbour’s lead was now 30-23.

Tevita Li dropped the ball cold with the line open. The Lions regrouped established field positon, won a penalty and kicked for a lineout in the corner. The forwards drove and super-sub hooker Asafo Aumua came up with the try, his sixth of the season. Garden-Bachop converted from te sideline and it was locked up at 30-30 with just over 10 minutes to play.

Harbour hit back straightaway. Left wing Li made a powerful injection up the middle of the park from a scrum 40 metres out, splitting the defence and handing a pass to replacement Daniel Hilton-Jones to score to put them back in front 37-30.

Gatland hit the posts with a 50-metre penalty, but nailed his next attempt from 45-metre, putting Harbour ahead 40-30 and asking the Lions to score twice in three minutes to at least take the contest into extra-time.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Lions’ performance were replacement halfback Sheridan Rangihuna’s dazzling boots. He scored from a scrum and Garden-Bachop converted at the end, but it was both game and season over at that point.

For North Harbour locks Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, Chris Vui, Murphy Taramai and Gatland deserve special praise for their efforts and will be seeking a repeat of their excellence in the fnal.

THE LIONS WHO ROARED

Wes Goosen and Joe Hill proved frequently elusive. Brad Shields toiled gamely as usual. Aumua had a noticeable impact again and Leo the Lion enjoyed the sun on his back, playing a particularly active role on the side-line.

BY THE NUMBERS

Bryn Gatland scored a record number of points for North Harbour against Wellington.
Wellington won the possession count in 9/11 games this season.

Asafo Aumua ended the season as the Lions top try scorer with six despite only starting two games.

North Harbour beat Wellington for the first time in 10 matches going back to 2006.

North Harbour will contest their second NPC final. Their last was a Division I final against Auckland in 1994.

Wellington’s record in the last three seasons makes for disappointing reading. They have played 32 games and won 13 times.

WHERE TO NEXT

The Lions roar is now a whimper. It might be the end of the road for several departing players and possibly the coaching staff.

North Harbour will go on and meet Otago in next weekend’s NPC Championship final, with the winner of that replacing Hawke’s Bay in the Premiership in 2017.

THE TEAMS

Wellington: Wellington: 1.Reggie Goodes, 2.Leni Apisai, 3.Chris Baumann, 4.Mark Reddish, 5.Sam Lousi, 6.Vaea Fifita, 7.Brad Shields, 8.Hoani Matenga, 9.Tomasi Palu, 10.Jackson Garden-Bachop, 11.Wes Goosen, 12.Shaun Treeby, 13.Matt Proctor, 14.Joe Hill, 15.Jason Woodward.RESERVES: 16.Asafo Aumua, 17.Vince Sakaria, 18.Alex Fidow, 19.James Blackwell, 20.Greg Foe, 21.Sheridan Rangihuna, 22.Mike Lealava'a, 23.Peter Umaga-Jensen.

North Harbour: North Harbour: 1.Nic Mayhew, 2.Adrian Smith, 3.Sione Mafileo, 4.Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 5.Chris Vui, 6.Glen Preston, 7.Connor Collett, 8.Murphy Taramai, 9.Bryn Hall, 10.Bryn Gatland, 11.Tevita Li, 12.Michael Little, 13.Matt Vaega, 14.Matt Duffie, 15.Matt McGahan.RSERVES: 16.Ray Niuia, 17.Jody Allen, 18.Jethro Felemi, 19.Brandon Nanson, 20. Kane Jacobson, 21.Chris Smylie, 22.Daniel Hilton-Jones, 23.Afa Faatau.