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Record Wellington Lions Win Streaks

  • By Adam Julian & Steven White

Being a Wellington Lions fan can be a frustrating experience. Between 2001 and 2021 Wellington appeared in eight NPC finals all of which were lost: 2003 v Auckland at Wellington, 2004 v Canterbury at Wellington, 2006 v Waikato at Hamilton, 2007 v Auckland at Auckland, 2008 v Canterbury at Wellington, 2009 v Canterbury at Christchurch, 2013 v Canterbury at Wellington and 2019 v Tasman at Nelson.

In 2014 Wellington lost nine on the trot and spent three years in the now defunct Championships.

The 2022/23 Lions have set new standards of excellence and are currently on a record 18-game chronological winning streak. They have won 16 NPC games in a row which is just two games short of matching their greatest winning run in that competition.

Win Streak: August 28, 2022, to September 2, 2023

Date Opponent Score
August 28, 2022 Taranaki (Home) 31-25
September 3, 2022 Southland (Away) 41-28
September 7, 2022 Tasman (Away) 25-19
September 11, 2022 Otago (Home) 32-26
September 17, 2022 Hawke’s Bay (Away, RS) 19-12
September 24, 2022 Waikato (Home, RS) 34-6
October 2, 2022 Counties Manukau (Away, RS) 64-31
October 8, 2022 Hawke’s Bay (Home, NPC, QF) 28-21
October 14, 2022 Auckland (Home NPC, SF) 54-19
October 22, 2022 Canterbury (Away NPC, GF) 26-18
July 12, 2023 Horowhenua Kapiti (Away, RS) 68-7
July 19, 2023 South Canterbury (Home, RS) 67-21
August 5, 2023 Manawatu (Away) 22-6
August 5, 2023 Otago (Away) 28-5
August 19, 2023 Southland (Home, RS) 39-17
August 23, 2023 Tasman (Home, RS) 7-0
August 27, 2023 Canterbury (Away) 36-31
September 2, 2023 Counties Manukau (Home, RS) 56-25

 

The current streak begins – against Taranaki last season. 

Notes

Wellington has scored 677 points (91 tries) during the streak and conceded 317 points. Their average score is 38-18.

Hooker Asafo Aumua is the leading try scorer with 12. In the backs, Ruben Love has nine. Love scored his sixth try of the season in the 2022 NPC final. It was also the fifth match in a row he has scored a try. The last Wellington player to score tries in five successive matches was Hosea Gear in 2008.

Aidan Morgan has scored a leading 165 points.

Nobody has played every game but Love, Aumua, Julian Savea, Keelan Whitman, TJ Perenara and Xavier Numia played every game in the 2022 season.

Du Pless Kirifi, Peter Umaga-Jensen and Brad Shields have captained the team. Head coaches have been Leo Crowley and former All Black Tamati Ellison.

From September 17 to 24, Wellington held two opponents try-less consecutively for the first time since 1999. In six games Wellington has only conceded one try or fewer.

Wellington won all three matches twice in ‘Storm Week’ in 2022 defeating Taranaki, Southland, and Tasman and in 2023 defeating Southland, Tasman, and Canterbury. The Canterbury victory was achieved against a side with six current or future internationals and without several leading players.

With a win in Round 1, 2022 (against Bay of Plenty) Wellington won 11 of their 13 matches played in 2022. This equals their record for most victories in season: also, in 2008 (11 wins from 13 matches) and in 2017 (11 wins from 12 matches). Wellington’s starting XV in the Final would have been exactly the same as was used against Auckland in the Semi-final if Pek Cowan had not been injured during the warm-up and had to be replaced by PJ Sheck.

Auckland won 34 games in a row from. July 1, 1987, until April 30, 1989. After that defeat Auckland then had an unbeaten run of 46 games from 1989-91. The worst result in that sequence was a 9-9 dawn against North Harbour in Takapuna on June 3, 1989. Auckland’s unbeaten run was ended in 1991 by NPC champions Otago (17-6). Auckland won 51 games in a row at Eden Park from 1984 to 1992. Between 1984 and 1996 Auckland won 208 out of 235 matches including the NPC ten times and defended the Ranfurly Sheild 61 times from 1985 to 1993. Between 2008 and 2017 Canterbury won the NPC nine times in a decade (102 wins in 128 games). Canterbury twice won a dozen matches in a row. In 2008 they lost their first NPC match of the season and remained unbeaten for the rest of the competition. They achieved 12 wins in a row again in 2012-13. The longest Canterbury went unbeaten at home was 19 games on the bounce from 2011-2014.

Wellington’s Great Seasons

Year Played Won Lost Drawn For Against
1919 8 7 0 1 127 41
1930 9 8 0 1 146 80
1953 18 13 4 1 298 156
1965 19 15 4 0 360 150
1966 22 19 1 2 368 154
1978 17 13 4 0 323 195
1981 19 15 4 0 477 187
1986 19 16 3 0 521 280
2000 13 9 4 0 363 309
2022 13 11 2 0 407 298

Notes

1919: The first unbeaten season with a qualification of more than five games.

1930: The most famous win of the season was the 12-8 success over touring Great Britain. In its report the next day, the Evening Post was generous in its praise. “Whatever else is in store before the tour finishes, the visit of the 1930 British Rugby Football team to New Zealand will long be remembered for one exceptionally thrilling contest that in which Wellington’s representatives lowered the colours of the finest rugby side that ever left Great Britain’s shores.”

1953: On 1 August Wellington beat Waikato 9-6 to win the Ranfurly Shield in Hamilton with winger Ron Jarden scoring all nine points. Wellington would pile on the points in six successful defences overpowering Southland (22-6), East Coast (42-0), Otago (9-3), Taranaki (26-3), Auckland (23-6) before losing to Canterbury 3-24. Canterbury has lost their 23-game grip of the Shield earlier in the season.  In the East Coast game Jarden scored six tries, a record that stood until Nigel Geany scored seven against Whanganui in 1991.

1965: Beat South Africa (23-6), Auckland and Canterbury twice each, Ranfurly Shield holders Taranaki, and Otago. Enjoyed a run of 11 wins in a row from 1964 to 1965.

1966: Beat British & Irish Lions (20-6), Auckland twice and Canterbury. The captain in 65 & 66 was All Blacks prop Ken Gray. He won 80 matches in a Wellington jersey and 46 out of 50 an All Black 636.

NPC Champions (Started 1976): 1978, 1981, 1986, 2000, 2022.

1986/87: Wellington won 14 matches (10 NPC, 4 first class) in a row and set a Union record 18 NPC wins on the trot.  In 1986 they were a prefect 10-0 in the NPC winning their next eight NPC matches in 1987 before losing to eventual winners Auckland.

2000: With a staggering 36 internationals, including 29-past, present, or future All Blacks, the 2000 NPC final is arguably the greatest NPC match ever played. Wellington beat Canterbury in Christchurch 34-29. Jonah Lomu was man of the match with two tries. The ‘Match of the Century’ between Canterbury and Auckland in Christchurch in 1985 featured 23 All Blacks. Auckland ended Canterbury 25 game tenure with the Ranfurly Shield and would go onto defend it 61 times until 1993.

2022: In the third round of the NPC Wellington lost to Northland in the capital for the first time since 2000 before a now famous ‘bonding’ session resulted in a swift turnaround. Wellington won 156 NPC matches (& seven other first class games) between their final win in 2000 and their 2022 final triumph. It’s worth nothing Wellington won the 2017, now defunct, championship to be promoted back to the Premiership. That season they won 11 out of 12 games and scored 515 points, including 74 tries. In the final they beat Bay of Plenty in extra time 59-40.

 NPC Win Streak 1986-1987

Date Opponent Score
August 12, 1986 Otago (Away) 30-6
August 16, 1986 Auckland (Home) 23-12
August 24, 1986 Bay of Plenty (Away) 21-11
August 30, 1986 Counties Manukau (Away) 23-13
September 2, 1986 Southland (Home) 39-18
September 7, 1986 Canterbury (Home) 22-16
September 10, 1986 North Auckland (Home) 19-12
September 20, 1986 Taranaki (Home) 25-21
September 27, 1986 Manawatu (Away) 33-13
October 4, 1986 Wairarapa Bush (Away) 39-9
July 14, 1987 Counties Manukau (Home) 18-12
July 21, 1987 Taranaki (Away) 31-15
August 19, 1987 North Auckland (Away) 30-6
August 22, 1987 Waikato (Away) 22-18
August 29, 1987 Bay of Plenty (Home) 43-15
September 5, 1987 Canterbury (Away) 27-9
September 12, 1987 Otago (Home) 21-19
September 19, 1987 Wairarapa Bush 33-18
The Wellington Lions in 1986 – NPC champions for the third time.

Quick Stats

For/Against: 499/243

Average Score: 28-14

Tries: 65

Coach: Earle Kirton (All Black)

Leading Points Scorer: John Gallagher, 213 (5 tries, 38 cons, 39 pen)

Leading Try Scorer: Lolani Koko, 9.

Past & Present All Blacks: Murray Pierce, Mike Clamp, Alan Hewson, Murray Mexted, Steve Pokere, Johnny Schuster, Paul Simonsson, John Gallagher, Kevin Boroevich, Brian McGrattan, Scott Crichton, Bernie Fraser.

Streak End: September 26, 1987: Auckland, 18-33, John Gallagher six penalties. All Blacks Zinzan Brooke, Mark Brooke Cowden and John Kirwan scored tries and Grant Fox booted 21 points. Gallagher tied the 1982 record of Alan Hewson for most penalties in a season with 35. Hewson and Fraser ended their Wellington careers at a same time. Fraser scored a record 105 tries in 124 matches, Hewson scored 893 points in 108 games.

1918-1920 Win streak

The other comparable era of winning success for Wellington in ‘A’ games was in 1918-20, perhaps Wellington’s most dominant period ever.

The Wellington A team won 21 consecutive matches against domestic opposition.

They also played a handful of matches in this period against non-domestic opposition, and lost a couple of these and drew one (thus breaking their win streak overall) but for the purposes of this article it is against domestic first-class ‘A’ team opposition.

For the record, these other matches during this time were: 3-40 v Trentham Military Forces; 3-3 v Pioneer Maori Battalion; 8-23 v New Zealand Services; 3-28 v the All Blacks.

Win streak against domestic opposition 1918-1920

Date Opponent Score
August 17, 1918 Auckland (Away) 18-14
August 24, 1918 Canterbury (Away) 9-0
August 31, 1918 Canterbury (Home 18-8
September 7, 1918 Auckland (Home) 23-14
July 2, 1919 Taranaki (Away) 8-5
August 30, 1919 Canterbury (Home, RS) 21-8
September 6, 1919 Taranaki (Home, RS) 18-10
September 13, 1919 Canterbury (Away, RS) 23-9
September 17, 1919 Auckland (Home, RS) 24-3
October 4, 1919 Whanganui (Home, RS) 30-3
June 3, 1920 Canterbury (Home, RS) 15-3
June, 26, 1920 Wairarapa (Away) 24-3
June 30, 1920 Bay of Plenty (Home, RS) 22-3
July 7, 1920 Taranaki (Away, RS) 20-9
July 28, 1920 Hawke’s Bay (Home, RS) 20-5
August 7, 1920 Auckland (Away, RS) 23-20
August 21, 1920 Taranaki (Home, RS) 16-5
August 28, 1920 Whanganui (Home, RS) 20-14
September 4, 1920 Auckland (Home, RS) 20-3
September 9, 1920 South Canterbury (Away, RS) 32-16
September 11, 1920 Otago (Away, RS) 16-5

 

Wellington’s southern tourists in 1920.

Quick Stats

For/Against: 420/160

Average Score: 22-8

Tries: 103

Past & Present All Blacks: George Aitken, Beet Algar, Rev. Paul Markham, Jim Moffitt, Ginger Nicholls, Harry Nicholls, Mark Nicholls, Dooley Calcinai, Syd Shearer, Jim Shearer, E.J. Roberts, Jimmy Tilyard, Fred Tilyard, Ned Hughes, Keith Siddells, Ed Ryan, Arthur Wilson.

Streak End: 15 September 1920, to Southland at Invercargill (RS).

The streak was famously ended on 15 September 1920 when Wellington took the Ranfurly Shield to Invercargill four days after repelling a tough Otago challenge in Dunedin and the Southlanders won 17-6. Wellington defended the Ranfurly Shield 16 consecutive times.

Three days later, Wellington returned to winning ways, beating Canterbury 16-13 in Christchurch.

They won their first matches in 1921 against domestic opposition before losing to Auckland. They then won three in a row (including regaining the Ranfurly Shield off Southland) and then one further match in 1922. Then on 9 August 1922, Hawke’s Bay came to town and took the Ranfurly Shield with a midweek 19-9 win. This loss can mark the ‘end of the golden weather’ for Wellington rugby post World War One (while marking the start of Hawke’s Bay’s). Thus, Wellington’s overall record in this period that stretched nine days short of four years was 23 wins from 26 against domestic provincial union opposition, including 21 in a row (as noted in the table above).

The last match of the winning streak in 1920.

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