Wellington Lions v Auckland semi-final stat attack

Jackson Garden-Bachop celebrates his try against Auckland. PHOTO: Peter McDonald.

The Wellington Lions eased past Auckland 54-19 in their National Provincial Championship semi-final on Saturday. Some facts and figures from the game below by Peter Marriott.

Semi-final v Auckland: Won 54-19

The two sides have now met 49 times in National Provincial Championship (NPC) matches.
Wellington has won 18 times to Auckland’s 31. There have been no draws.

They did not meet last year.

Wellington’s victory against Auckland was their 10th of the season and that includes winning their
last nine matches on the trot. Wellington last won nine in a row back in 2013: their first nine matches
of that year.

In their last nine matches Wellington’s winning margins have been six points (against Taranaki), 13
points (against Southland), six points (against Tasman), six points (against Otago), seven points
(against Hawke’s Bay), 28 points (against Waikato), 33 points (against Counties Manukau), seven
points (in the Quarter-final against Hawke’s Bay and now 35 points against Auckland in the Semi-
final.

Wellington’s winning margin of 35 points is their best-ever in NPC matches against Auckland. Their
previous best was 27 points when they defeated Auckland 27-0 in their Ranfurly Shield Challenge
match in 2008.

Wellington’s record for most wins in a season is 11: in 2008 (from 13 matches) and in 2017 (12
matches). They have also previously won 10 matches in the same season four times: in 1986 (from
10 matches), 2007 (13 matches), 2009 (15 matches) and 2013 (12 matches).

Wellington’s seventh try was their 50th to be scored this year. They have scored 50 or more tries in
an NPC season on six previous occasions: 51 in 2007, 62 in 2008, 52 in 2010, 50 in 2015, 74 in
2017 and 55 in 2018.

The 54 points scored by Wellington is their highest score against Auckland in all NPC matches.
Their previous highest score was the 48-23 victory at Auckland in the Semi-final of 2000.

The eight tries scored by Wellington is a new record for them against Auckland. Their previous
record was six, on three occasions: at Auckland in 1997, at Auckland in 2003 and Auckland in 2020,
the last time the two sides played each other.

Wellington has now beaten Auckland in their last three encounters, a new record for consecutive
wins. Previously Wellington’s best was two in a row, on four occasions: in 1980/81, 1983/84, 2006
(two times, the Regular Season match and the Semi-final) and 2008/09.

Referee James Doleman has been in charge in each of the last three matches played between the
two sides.

Wellington has won their last seven matches in a row at Sky Stadium. They haven’t won eight on the
trot at this venue since winning 10 in succession: all seven played in 2017 and the first three played
in 2018, when it was known as Westpac Stadium.

Wellington has scored 50 or more points in a match on 32 occasions including two times this year.
Interestingly, in the 24 years from 1976 (when the NPC was introduced) to 1999, Wellington
surpassed 50 points on just six occasions. In the 23 years since then Wellington has passed 50
points a further 26 times including twice in a season on six other occasions. However, 2017 was a
record year for Wellington when they passed 50 points three times in their last seven matches of
the season. Also included in that sequence was a match in which they scored 49 points.

Riley Higgins scored two tries against Auckland, the second time he has done so in a match in his
debut season. He also scored a brace in his first match, against Bay of Plenty, two months earlier.
His second try was the 50th to be scored for Wellington this year.

There has now been 199 instances, from 97 different players, where two or more tries have been
scored in a NPC match.

Jackson Garden-Bachop scored 15 points to take his overall tally in all matches for Wellington to
693 and move into fourth place on the all-time points scorers list. Ahead of him are Allan Hewson
(893 points), John Gallagher (797 points) and Mick Williment (748 points). Garden-Bachop passed
Jon Preston who scored 682 points during his time with Wellington.

Jackson Garden-Bachop brought up 50 points against Auckland during the match. He has now
scored 54 points in six appearances against them.

Ruben Love scored his fifth try of the season and that includes one in each of his last four matches.

Asafo Aumua scored his sixth try of the year to become Wellington’s top try scorer in 2022, one
ahead of the five scored by Riley Higgins and Ruben Love. Aumua was also the top try scorer in
his first year with Wellington: six in 2016.

With 25 tries to his name, Aumua has moved ahead of Rod Heeps, Murray Mexted and Ian Uttley
who all scored 24 tries during their career. Aumua is the fourth highest try scoring forward for
Wellington after Graham Williams (54), Andy Leslie (37) and Paul Quinn (27).

After a false start in the previous match, the Quarter-final against Hawke’s Bay, Josh Southall
finally made his debut for Wellington. He had been listed on the bench but failed to take the field.
Southall is the sixth player to make his debut for Wellington this year and is the 33rd to make at
least one appearance in 2022.

In beating Auckland, Wellington retained the Fred Lucas Memorial Trophy.

A streaker appeared on the field at the 63rd minute mark.

Wellington’s overall record in all National Provincial Championship matches is played 487, won 305
(62.6%), lost 170 and drawn 12.