‘Hurt’ Lions roar back with emphatic win
The Wellington Lions took a good hard look at themselves last week, in the wake of their opening-round no-show in Hamilton, and the result was writ large at Eden Park yesterday.
It was amazing the difference a week made for Leo Crowley’s Lions as they bounced back from that 53-28 mauling at the hands of Waikato in the opening round in Hamilton to secure a statement 39-21 victory over Auckland on their home track. It was not just a statement performance for the men from the capital, but a salutary one too as they salved their wounds from last Saturday.
Embarrassed in Hamilton, Wellington produced the only acceptable response as they ran in a halfdozen swashbuckling tries to get their Mitre 10 Cup campaign back on track and put some pride back into the jersey.
‘‘Eight days is a long time to wait to put things right when you’re as disappointed as we were,’’ said a satisfied Crowley after the match. ‘‘We felt we let ourselves down last week, and that has wider ripples. We want to be good, we want to train hard and play hard and last week we just didn’t play hard.’’
Both teams are now 1-1 for the season, and for the Lions, who ran in six tries to three to secure the bonus point, it was a performance that had been brewing all week.
‘‘There was soul-searching in the way that we’d rushed our preparation with five North-South boys coming back in last week. You end up with three practices and you think you’re good enough, but we just didn’t have the right attitude,’’ added Crowley.
‘‘We got hurt last week. We didn’t prepare well, with the short buildup etc, and the only one way to beat Auckland is to put them on the ground. We came up with that attitude and the boys tackled their hearts out.’’
After being outplayed by young Waikato No 9 Xavier Roe last week, it was no surprise to see All Black halfback TJ Perenara at the heart of the response from the Lions as their backs had a field day.
Perenara had a couple of wayward kicks early on, but then got busy to inspire a four-try burst in 20 minutes that turned a 7-0 deficit into a 22-7 advantage that was never thereafter under real threat.
Vince Aso, with a try double, looked sharp, too, as the Wellington backs found holes all afternoon in the Auckland defence. Visiting skipper Du’Plessis Kirifi and Ardie Savea led a strong breakdown display and hooker Asafo Aumua showcased his skills with some moments of real class.
Peter Umaga-Jensen looked dangerous in the Lions midfield, while Billy Proctor and Wes Goosen were full of running all game. Jackson Garden-Bachop also produced a strong all-round game in the pivot and did well to shake off a few goalkicking wobbles in the first half.
Auckland weren’t expecting the sameWellington side that folded to that big defeat to Waikato on opening round, and they didn’t get it in the opening 40 minutes as the visitors ran in five tries to storm to a decisive 29-14 halftime lead.
With the Lions forwards causing mayhem at the breakdown and Perenara warming to his task, Wellington made no race of the first stanza to repeatedly expose the Auckland defence, both down the middle channels and out wide. It was mostly one-way traffic.
As electrifying as his team’s attack was on occasions, Crowley felt it had been defence that had laid the foundation for the victory. ‘‘They’ve got six All Blacks, and we tackled our shoulders out today. The front eight do that, the frontrowers do it, the locks . . . we know if we get a chance we’ve got just as good a backline as anybody.’’
It had also been a result established very much on the training field. ‘‘The boys tore into each other one day during the week there and we want to play well enough that we don’t have to hurt each other at training. But until our attitude is right, that’s what we have to do.’’