NPC talking points: Can anybody tame the rampant Wellington Lions?

Stuff

06 September 2023

NPC talking points: Can anybody tame the rampant Wellington Lions?

It sure doesn’t look like more than a few teams are capable of doing so. And two of those teams – Canterbury and Tasman – had golden chances to do so but couldn’t finish the job.

The reigning champions and Ranfurly Shield holders have notched a team-record 18 straight wins, six of them this season.

That leaves the Tamati Ellison-coached side atop the ladder with 27 points, ominously placed with four matches to play before the sudden-death stage of the much-maligned national provincial competition.

They’re a long way off Auckland’s record 34-match winning streak between 1987 and 1989, but they’re an impressive bunch nevertheless.

Not since August of last year have they lost, 15-6 against Northland in round three of the 2022 competition, a week after Canterbury rolled them 43-10.

But they’ve been the undisputed top dogs since, twice beating the fancied red and blacks, in last year’s final in Christchurch, and again in the Garden City last month.

That felt like the best chance for a team to end their run, given the stacked and rested hosts had the advantage of playing a wary team at the end of their storm week.

And it wasn’t just any storm week. It had only been four days since Wellington’s tense Ranfurly Shield defence against Tasman.

Impressive. Yet they’re not doing it by playing the flashiest rugby. Taranaki, Canterbury and Auckland have all scored more tries than them, and you won’t see any Wellington players in the top-five of most attacking categories.

But, as they say, defence wins championships. Wellington has conceded a competition-best 84 points (13 tries) through six games, comfortably better than the next best (Tasman’s 100 points).

And to think a big chunk of those points were against Canterbury, who they beat 36-31 to cap one of the most testing storm weeks in recent memory.

Bonus point gripe

Wellington’s unbeaten start to the competition has prompted this writer’s annual gripe regarding the bonus point system used in this competition.

After all, they have won two more games than second-placed Taranaki, yet only have three more competition points to show for it because Taranaki has mustered eight bonus points.

Whatever shape this competition takes in the future, it should utilise the same bonus point system as Super Rugby, meaning teams must score three or more tries than the opposition to secure an attacking bonus point.

As it stands, teams are awarded an attacking bonus point for scoring four tries, which, coupled with a loss within seven points, results in losing teams walking away with two points – half of a standard win.

That’s wrong.

Battle of the Bays

Ahh, the battle to be the real “Bay”.

You’ve got to love it when Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay go head-to-head, which they will do at Napier’s McLean Park on Saturday afternoon.

There’s more than just bragging rights on the line, too, given the 4-2 Magpies are sixth on the ladder and the 3-2 Steamers are tucked in behind, a few competition points back.

For the record, Bay of Plenty triumphed 20-14 in Tauranga last year, and have won four of the last five matches between the rivals since 2019.

In terms of other cracker round six matches, Auckland host Canterbury at Eden Park on Saturday night, while Taranaki’s home match against Tasman the following day should be a beaut.

On the subject of Taranaki, it’s difficult to recall a more physical defensive performance than the one they produced against Canterbury in Rangiora last week.

Yep, Neil Barnes’ amber and blacks came up short, but they have all the ingredients to challenge for the title.