Wellington leave it late

Editor

Wellington maintained their unbeaten ITM Cup status after claiming a 42-15 win over Manawatu at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.

Wellington maintained their unbeaten ITM Cup status after claiming a 42-15 win over Manawatu at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.

Despite securing a try-scoring bonus-point, the home side didn't always have things going their way and Manawatu held a 15-12 lead at the interval.

The Turbos raced into an 8-0 lead, thanks to an early penalty from Nate George and a Nic Stirzaker try in the 16th minute. The Lions struck back with a try from Joe Hill after good work from Charlie Ngatai in the build-up.

The visitors' right wing Nehe Milner-Skudder then launched a counter attack before offloading to Stirzaker, who got in for his second try which George converted.

Wellington replied with a converted try from Ross Filipo on the stroke of half-time and Lima Sopoaga succeeded with the conversion to narrow the gap to three points.

Manawatu were still competitive after the break and the half was scoreless until the 60th minute when Sopaga drew his side level with a penalty. He added two further three-pointers, within the space of five minutes, to give the Lions a 21-15 lead.

The home side then took control in the last 10 minutes when Filipo, Tim Bateman and Afa Fa'atau ran in further tries which were all converted by Sopoaga.

The win means Wellington have strengthened their position on the table. They now have a full house of 20 points from four matches.

The scorers:

For Wellington:
Tries: Filipo 2, Bateman, J Hill, Fa'atau
Cons: Sopoaga 4
Pens: Sopoaga 3

For Manawatu:
Tries: Stirzaker 2
Cons: George
Pens: George

Wellington: 15 Charlie Ngatai, 14 Matt Proctor, 13 Tim Bateman, 12 Shaun Treeby, 11 Joe Hill, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Frae Wilson, 8 Victor Vito (c), 7 Adam Hill, 6 Faifili Levave, 5 Mark Reddish, 4 Ross Filipo, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Reggie Goodes, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 J O'Reilly, 17 Eric Sione, 18 Kaipati Gaualofa, 19 Ardie Savea, 20 Genesis Mamea, 21 Tomasi Palu, 22 Afa Fa'atau.

Manawatu: 15 Lewis Marshall, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Nico Malo, 12 Hamish Northcott, 11 Newton Tudreu, 10 Nate George, 9 Nic Stirzaker, 8 James Oliver, 7 Callum Gibbons, 6 Heiden Bedwell Curtis, 5 Michael FitzGerald, 4 Nick Crosswell (c), 3 Chris Eves, 2 Bryn Templeman, 1 Jared Brock.
Replacements: 16 Nick Grogan, 17 Damian Horgan, 18 Dan Squire, 19 Hamish Gosling, 20 Papa Wharewera, 21 Jade Te Rure, 22 Willie Paia'aua.

Referee: Matt O'Brien (Australia)