Wellington Lions v Auckland Stat Attack

The Wellington Lions opened their 2024 National Provincial Championship season with a bonus point 29-21 shutout win over Auckland at Eden Park.

Some facts and figures from the match by Peter Marriott below:

Round 1 v Auckland: Won 29-21

Wellington and Auckland did not meet in 2023.

Wellington and Auckland have met 50 times in NPC matches. Auckland has won 31 times to Wellington’s 19. There have been no draws although two matches have resulted in one-point margins.

This victory extended Wellington’s record winning run of successive wins against Auckland to four.

Auckland last beat Wellington in their Semi-final match played at Auckland in October 2018 (38-17).

Auckland has now lost their last three home matches against Wellington. This betters Wellington’s previous record of two successive wins in Auckland between 1981 and 1983.

Wellington retained the Fred Lucas Cup.

Referee Mike Winter controlled just his second match involving Wellington. The first was back in 2017 when the Lions played Bay of Plenty in Rotorua.

Three players made their debut for Wellington. All three came off the bench. Yato Kamimori was the first on to the field followed later by Mitch McLeod and Callum Harkin.

Three other players returned to the Wellington side, one having missed last season and the othertwo multi seasons.

Jackson Garden-Bachop missed last year having landed a contract with a French team. He returned to Wellington on the death of brother Connor. With his nine points in this match, Jackson has now scored 63 in all matches against Auckland.

Leni Apisai returned to the Lions side having last appeared in 2017. He had made his debut in 2014 against Waikato and over four years with Wellington he had appeared 30 times. Between 2019 and 2023 he played 39 games for Auckland.

Matt Proctor last played for Wellington in 2018 having made his debut in 2012. He missed 2017 due to injury but captained the side in his final year. He made 52 appearances for Wellington first time around. Proctor plied his trade in English Premiership rugby prior to his return to the Lions.

Kyle Preston scored the first points for Wellington in 2024. His try in the 15th minute was his third for the Lions, in his 12th match.

Tjay Clarke also picked up his third try for Wellington but it was his first in NPC. His two previous tries had been scored during the pre-season Ranfurly Shield matches against Horowhenua-Kapiti and South Canterbury last year. Clarke has played eight times for Wellington.

Peter Umaga-Jensen scored his 16th try in his 57th match. He also scored tries against Auckland in 2019 and 2020.

Du’Plessis Kirifi’s try was his 15th in 64 matches for the Lions. Kirifi is Wellington captain for the sixth year having succeeded Matt Proctor in 2019.

This was Wellington’s first NPC match under the new Head Coach Alando Soakai.

Wellington’s overall record in the NPC is: played 501 matches, won 317 (63.3%), lost 172 and drawn 12.