[ad_1]
Hannah Peters / Getty Images
Wellington’s center Billy Proctor faces the Counties-Manukau defense, which ultimately failed.
It took them almost three-quarters to wake up, but when Wellington finally did, this competition was over in an instant.
Four attempts in the final 13 minutes saw Wellington overwhelm Counties-Manukau 53-20 at Pukekohe on Sunday, continuing his path to the Miter 10 Cup playoffs and holding the coveted Jonah Tali Lomu Memorial Trophy.
Lazy forwards Vaea Fifita and Teariki Ben-Nicholas were a massive presence for the visitors, while former All Blacks captain Kieran Read superbly led the hosts, whose weak defense again cost them down the stretch.
SKY SPORTS
Two interception attempts helped Wellington finish strong for a big win over Counties.
The Lions scored seven attempts to two after trailing 13-11 at halftime, and only hit the front in the 60th minute after prop Xavier Numia galloped 20 yards and hit with a tired defense to score.
READ MORE:
* Tasman’s captain David Havili shines as Mako hits Southland
* Ioane excels, but North Harbor holds on to beat Auckland
* Hawke’s Bay bombards the Manawatū team to retain Ranfurly Shield
It was Wellington’s fourth win of seven this year, having started fourth on the Premier ladder this weekend. Importantly, they put some distance over fifth-ranked Canterbury, now with a six-point margin. The team that beat them in last year’s final, Tasman, is looming in a big clash in Wellington on Saturday.
Despite losing two more All Blacks to Australia – captain Du’Plessis Kirifi and center Peter Umaga-Jensen – Wellington came in as a warm favorite against the 1-5 Counties-Manukau who had conceded 34 points per game.
Hannah Peters / Getty Images
Number 8, Teariki Ben-Nicholas, was a common threat to Wellington.
Visitors also spoke passionately about wanting to preserve the trophy bearing the legendary name of Lomu, which has resided at its Wellington headquarters since it was first contested in 2016.
Lomu’s sons, Brayley and Dhyreille, stood on the sidelines, each dressed in T-shirts from Wellington and Counties-Manukau, their father’s former provinces.
Counties top five Jason Robertson was a dominant figure early on, setting up a try for Latiume Fasita and then running untouched by a pass from Read shortly after the break to make it 20-11 for the hosts.
Wellington was hampered by a familiar lack of patience, poor passing and silly mistakes in attack in the first half, providing opportunities for the counties. Read was a threat in the collapse after conceding some early penalties and popped up everywhere as it looked like a competition that would go all the way.
Hannah Peters / Getty Images
Test Time: Counties-Manukau’s Jason Robertson dives shortly after halftime before Wellington returned.
Wellington’s hooker James O’Reilly shot out for a double in the 44th minute, but the visitors continued to make life more difficult until Numia made a brilliant pass from Billy Proctor.
Wes Goosen, another impressive Wellington figure, was denied an interception attempt on a limit call by TMO John Wright in the 64th minute, but surprisingly caught another four minutes later and ran 50 meters. Referee Dan Waenga had no problems this time.
It wasn’t the last interception either, as the counties lost the plot. Baden Kerr, who had served Goosen’s no-go attempt earlier, threw another pass that Fifita took out and trotted 75 meters to score.
Take a look
Wellington 53 (James O’Reilly 2, Vaea Fifita 2, Xavier Numia, Wes Goosen, Teariki Ben-Nicholas tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 5 with, 2 pen, Aidan Morgan 2 with) Counties-Manukau 20 (Latiume Fasita, Jason Robertson tries; Robertson 2 scam, 2 pens). HT: 11-13.
MVP: 3 Vaea Fifita, 2 Teariki Ben-Nicholas, 1 Kieran Read
