Modest Gear hails team effort
Wellington's try-scoring saviour Hosea Gear has modestly pointed Friday's brilliant individual performance against Southland to the help of his Lions' team-mates following the side's 28-19 Air New Zealand Cup semi-final win.
Wellington's try-scoring saviour Hosea Gear has modestly pointed Friday's brilliant individual performance against Southland to the help of his Lions' team-mates following the side's 28-19 Air New Zealand Cup semi-final win.
The home side were unconvincing in their fight to host the championship final and were made to work overtime against a plucky and determined Southland side at Westpac Stadium.
The Lions, who started the tournament with a roar and a hiss, were widely tipped to reach the final but have been in indifferent form over the last three weeks of the competition.
The Stags came out to play and threatened an unbelievable upset, until once again, Gear showed why he is the top try-scorer in the 2008 tournament with a brace of tries breaking Bernie Fraser's try-scoring record for Wellington in the process.
However, despite his match-winning performance, the mercurial winger was quick to acknowledge the work of his team mates and the resilience of the opposition.
“We knew that Southland would come out firing and would be physical for 80 minutes. They put us under a lot of pressure so we're happy with the win,” Gear told Sportal.
“The tries I scored tonight were only possible because of the hard work the other boys do.”
Wellington coach Jamie Joseph said he was pleased with the result, and followed Gear's lead in acknowledging the Southland effort.
“I've got to give credit to Southland, they are a tenacious team and they didn't give in – right to the very end,” said Joseph.
“They were well prepared and a good team.”
Southland's organisation and ability to upset the home side – especially at ruck time – created some problems for Wellington's attack, but Joseph was pleased with the patience and maturity of his side.
“They put us under pressure and frustrated us, but I had fifteen guys out there who wanted to win the game,” said Joseph.
“Sometimes we got frustrated because things we wanted to do didn't come off, but we were disciplined enough to keep at it and persevere.”
Joseph wouldn't be drawn into comment on the final next week, instead saying he wanted to enjoy the semi-final victory.
For Southland, it was a bittersweet result. The Stags met their pre-season objective of making the semi-finals but were ultimately disappointed to come so close to making the final after leading the match with fifteen minutes to go.
Centre Kendrick Lynn was heartened by his side's performance but still disappointed despite his side giving it their all.
“When we were leading with 15 minutes to go, there was a lot of belief in team,” said Lynn.
“Unfortunately though, a side like Wellington is so hard to contain. Wellington's strong finishes in the competition so far was a big point of what we talked about during the week, but we just couldn't keep them out,” Lynn added.
Wellington will meet the winner of Saturday's semi-final between Canterbury and Hawke's Bay next weekend.