Lions blow it against Canterbury

Wellington: 20 (Thomas Umaga-Jensen, James O'Reilly, Du Plessis Kirifi tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop con, pen ) Canterbury: 27 (Braydon Ennor, Reed Prinsep, Mitchell Drummond, Caleb Makene tries; Brett Cameron 2 con, pen)

WHAT HAPPENED

Wellington were the architects of their own demise - too many mistakes gifting a more accurate, but unspectacular Canterbury a narrow victory, who also won back the Harry Saundercock Memorial Shield off the Lions.

Wellington slumped to a 22-7 deficit at halftime on the back of poor defence.

Canterbury pivot Brett Cameron opened the scoring with a penalty after 15 minutes, but Wellington struck back hard sixty seconds later when Thomas Umaga-Jensen scored a try, supporting a bust by Isaia Walker-Leawere.

The visitors rot set in during the second quarter, leaking 19 points. Caleb Makene busted down the left wing and drew the last defender to put Braydon Ennor away for his 11th NPC try.

Krifi unusually missed a tackle allowing Hurricanes loose forward Reed Prinsep to gallop 15-meters in the 26th minute and halfback Mitchell Drummond profited from a lineout switch which saw Nathan Vella and Whetu Douglas combine to leave the Lions undermanned on the short side.

Canterbury could have been further ahead had wing Josh McKay flashed past two defenders, only to drop the ball with the line at his mercy

Kirifi atoned for his blemish at the start of the second-spell with a bustling run earing a penalty which Jackson Garden-Bachop slotted.

Down 22-10, Wellington suddenly sprung to life and with half an hour left James O'Reilly closed the gap to seven points when he detached from a rolling maul and shrugged aside two defenders to score his first try for Wellington.

Breaks from Umaga-Jensen and Goosen went unrewarded before another Lions mistake allowed Canterbury to expand their advantage. A shallow clearance was taken on the fly by outstanding Canterbury fullback George Bridge who slipped a tackle and engendered a try for Makene.  

With about 15 minutes to spare Krifi muscled over to make it 27-20.
 
In the last ten minutes Wellington dominated both possession and territory. A beauty of an offload by James Blackwell to Will Mangos resulted in the later breaking 40-metres with no profit.
 
Asafo Aumua also delivered a forward pass to Trent Renata who was over the line.
 
Canterbury locks Mitchell Dunshea, Luke Romano are rugged performers and Douglas and Drummond showed their experience when it counted.

WHO STOOD OUT

Wes Goosen was a constant threat on attack and a composed figure on defence, both under the highball and in mopping up mistakes from his colleagues. O’Reilly played one of his best games for Wellington with Asafo Aumua worryingly underwhelming. Thomas Umaga-Jensen make some big bursts before being hauled while Krifi and Mangos carried on their good form from club rugby.

BY THE NUMBERS

 Wellington won eight clean turnovers in the second-half.
 
Wellington suffered just their second defeat under the coaching of Chris Gibbes.
 
Jackson Garden-Bachop twice hit the post.
 
Both teams have scored 140 tries each against each other in the NPC era which dates back to 1976.
 
Canterbury have won 76 of the 173 overall meetings against Wellington. The Lions have prevailed on 87 occasions.

CLUB RUGBY LIONS MVP

3. Wes Goosen
2. James O'Reilly
1. Will Mangos
 
Points after two matches:
5. Wes Goosen
3. Du'Plessis Kirifi
2. James O'Reilly
1.Will Mangos
1.Vaea Fifita

WHERE TO NEXT?

Wellington plays their first home fixture against Southland on Friday night and will be looking for a repeat of their 61-12 victory last year.

Canterbury travel to the Tauranga Domain to tackle unbeaten Bay of Plenty in an intriguing Round 3 affair.

TEAMS

Canterbury: George Bridge, Josh McKay, Braydon Ennor, Sam Beard, Caleb Makene, Brett Cameron, Mitch Drummond (c), Whetu Douglas (c), Tom Christie, Reed Prinsep, Mitch Dunshea, Luke Romano, Sef Fa’agase, Nathan Vella, Alex Hodgman
Reserves: Greg Pleasants-Tate, Daniel Lienert-Brown, Chris King, Hamish Dalzell, Tom Sanders, Connor Collins, James Hawkey, Ngane Punivai

Wellington: Trent Renata, Ben Lam, Matt Proctor (c), Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Wes Goosen, Jackson Garden-Bachop, Sheridan Rangihuna, Thomas Waldrom, Du Plessis Kirifi, Vaea Fifita, Isaia Walker-Leawere, James Blackwell, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, James O’Reilly, Tolu Fahamokioa. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Kaliopasi Uluilakepa, Joel Hintz, Will Mangos, Mateaki Kafatolu, Kemara Hauiti-Parapara, Billy Proctor, Malo Tuitama

For more visit: http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/national