Otago beat Wellington
Dunedin: A 28-point first half blitz propelled Otago to a convincing 44-21 win over Wellington in their Mitre 10 Cup match in Dunedin on Thursday night. After beating Southland 40-17 in round one last weekend, the blue and golds’ second win from as many matches leaves them at the top of the Championship section. They ran in five tries to three in the win, with Highlanders players Matt Faddes, Tom Franklin and Jack Wilson all dotting down during the match.
It was sweet revenge for Otago, after Wellington hammered them 34-14 in the Championship semifinals a year ago. However, under the roof in Dunedin, Wellington were at times about as feeble as the Wallabies were in last weekend’s opening Bledisloe Cup loss to the All Blacks in Sydney. If they weren’t falling off tackles, they were constantly shooting themselves in the foot through poor discipline and handling errors. With the Mike Gibson Memorial Trophy on the line, Wellington did at least show some fight in the second half. Down 28-0, classy winger Wes Goosen finished off some hard running by lock Hoani Matenga to score out wide in the opening couple of minutes of the second spell. But Otago immediately hit back through fullback Michael Collins, who would have thought it was Christmas when he found himself in acres of space after a simple cut out ball. Otago’s next game is against Northland in Dunedin on Wednesday night, while the Lions aren’t in action again until Saturday week, when they host North Harbour. Otago 44 (Matt Faddes, Tom Franklin, Sam Anderson-Heather tries, Jack Wilson, Michael Collins; Fletcher Smith 5 con, 2 pen, Scott Eade 1pen) Wellington 21 (Wes Goosen, Shaun Treeby, Matt Proctor tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 3 con). HT: 28-0. - Stuff