Final quarter sinks Otago hopes

A stirring second-half comeback from Wellington ended Otago's Ranfurly Shield hopes in their Air New Zealand Cup clash in Wellington on Friday.

Trailing 11-3 at the break, tries to Daniel Ramsay and Hosea Gear in the final quarter of the game broke Otago hearts as Wellington rallied for a 23-19 win.

It was Wellington's fourth successful defence after wins against Tasman last season and Wairarapa-Bush and Wanganui in pre-season and the famous log o' wood will next be on line against Auckland on August 22.

Wellington made a nervy start and the visitors ran hard at the Lions line from the off and were 11-3 up at the break thanks to a try and two penalties to pivot Chris Noakes.

Wellington was not helped by its error count with unforced errors and penalties going against them.

Daniel Kirkpatrick also endured a difficult night with his restarts with one not going the required 10 metres and others going out on the full.

But he ran to the Otago line and linked with debutant second five-eighths Shaun Treeby well but poor handling on attack and poor passes meant several attacking moves broke down in the opening 40 minutes.

Otago though applied the blow torch on Wellington forcing the mistakes which looked to be paying off until the home side's late surge following the arrival of Fa'atonu Fili at first five-eighths.

Noakes got the visitors on the board with an early penalty but that was cancelled out by one from Kirkpatrick in the 10th minute.

Buxton Popoali'i was then denied a try in the corner when his knee hit the whitewash as he dived for the line under pressure from the Otago defence.

The silky running fullback was in the move twice after a great burst by wing David Smith.

Instead midway through the first half it was Otago which crossed the line first after a bullocking run by big number eight Steven Setephano got the visitors across the gain line.

The ball was spun wide to Karne Hesketh, his pass came off the legs of Brett Mather and Noakes dived on it for the opening try.

He couldn't land the conversion and both he and Kirkpatrick missed penalty opportunities to leave the score 11-3 in Otago's favour at the break.

The visitors wasted a golden opportunity early in the second half when Mather burst through the Wellington midfield again but was hauled down just short of the line by the desperate Lions defence.

Kirkpatrick then wasted a chance to close the deficit with another penalty miss but made no mistake in the 51st minute when Adam Thomson, who had a solid game on his comeback from a broken hand, was penalised for not rolling away.

But another Noakes three-pointer restored the eight-point advantage for Otago.
Wellington got itself right back in the game with a try to replacement lock Daniel Ramsay. Noakes lost the ball in the tackle of Fili and Treeby gathered and charged up field, fending off Mather, before firing the ball out to Ramsay who went over by the posts.

Fili added the conversion to narrow the deficit to 14-13.

But the home side was not done and took the lead with a try to All Black wing Gear, who beat Hesketh around the outside to dive over in the corner after an initial burst by young centre Robert Fruean.

Fili added the coversion and rubbed salt into the wound with a successful drop goal.

Otago had the final say with a try to Thomson in the corner but it will have done little to soothe the southerners' heartbreak.

Scorers:

Wellington 23 (Daniel Ramsay, Hosea Gear tries; Fa'atonu Fili 2 con, 1 dg; Daniel Kirkpatrick 2 pen) Otago 19
Chris Noakes, Adam Thomson tries; Noakes 3 pen).

HT: 3-11