Proud Lions save their best for last

After nine rounds of winless rugby, Wellington rugby fans had something to cheer about yesterday.

The Lions waited until their final game of a torrid season to produce their best performance, putting 58 points on the board to win in a thrilling second half.

To put that into perspective, Wellington had scored only 156 points all season before the game. In the second half, they scored almost 20 per cent of their total points for the year.

But the game wasn’t all onesided. North Harbour led at halftime and trailed by three points with 10 minutes remaining.

The teams combined for five tries in the final 23 minutes as the game resembled sevens more than 15-a-side rugby.

Wellington were clinical, decisive, pacey and daring and well worth the win.

But ultimately, it doesn’t change anything for the Lions, who will still be relegated and have had their worst season in the ITM Cup. But what a way to go out.

North Harbour earned a bonus point for their four tries, but it wasn’t enough to scrape into the semifinals as Southland jumped ahead on the table with a draw with Hawke’s Bay later in the day.

Harbour will be disappointed with their performance at set pieces and their discipline. The visitors conceded just six penalties in the first half but five of them were in kicking range and it proved costly on a day when Wellington first-five Willie Ripia couldn’t miss.

Halfback TJ Perenara was Wellington’s best and capped off a good day with the final try of the match. Wellington captain Brad Shields said it was the perfect way to end a forgettable year and send off veteran lock Ross Filipo, who took the final two conversions before retirement.

“It’s been a rough season but to finish off like that and put 50 points on the board is pretty relentless,” he said. “We’ve let other teams off a couple of times this year and the boys have been working really hard to get it right. To finish the season on a high is really cool.”

HFor coverage of today’s

ITM Cup games, see Wellington 58 (J. Garden-Bachop, V. Vito, B. Shields, V. Fifita, R. Filipo, TJ Perenara tries; W. Ripia 3 con, 6 pens, R. Filipo 2 cons) North Harbour 34 (P. Ahki, M. Vaega, R. Takarangi, T. Li tries; M. McGahan 2 pens, 3 cons, D. Halangahu con). Halftime 15-17.