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Brad Shields playing against North Harbour last September. The Lions return there on Sunday for their first home NPC fixture of the year. Photo: Andy McArthur.
- By Steven White
Talismanic Wellington Lions loose forward Brad Shield says the Lions were happy to earn a first up bonus point win against Auckland in a difficult game and they can now turn their attention with confidence in hosting the defending champions Taranaki in round two of the NPC this Sunday.
“One thing we talk about as players is that we have to make sure to celebrate the wins because sometimes they are tough to earn, and our first game against Auckland was one of these as seen by us making 200-odd tackles,” said Shields.
Wellington and Taranaki meet for the John F. Henning Trophy on Sunday afternoon at Porirua Park in round two of the competition.
“Being the defending champions, Taranaki are heading into this season on a high. If you look at their firepower out wide and experience in key positions they will bring a different challenge again and we have got to respect the way they play, said Shields, who will be lining up to play his 295th first-class match since making his debut for Wellington as a teenager in 2010.
“If we do that and focus on what we do well it will be a good match on Sunday, especially being at Porirua and out in the community, which also adds extra motivation for us to play well.”
Wellington and Taranaki didn’t meet last year. Their most recent meeting was on 26 August 2022, with Wellington winning 31-25 and Peter Lakai scoring a hat-trick on debut at openside flanker.
Shields, who returned prematurely from overseas early last year due to his club Wasps falling over said its invigorating training and playing with the next generation of loose forwards such as Lakai and Dominic Ropeti.
“We’ve got a good mix of youth and energy, and the best part about that is you can just express yourself and let those guys play the way they want to play, and you can structure the team’s game around that.”
It is well documented elsewhere that Shields went overseas in 2018 and qualified to play for England through both his parents. He played eight times for England in 2018 and 2019 and played his first two tests against the Springboks, the benchmark international team at present.
“They are always a brutal team, but another reason why they are on top at the moment is because they are able to innovate and adapt and show different ways of how they can beat teams. Their coaching staff headed by Rassie Erasmus has also been there for a while now so they have consistency, and they have that buy-in and trust from all the players.”
Shields himself has no immediate plans to hang up his boots and has another two years to run with the Hurricanes on his current deal.
“I would love to keep playing until my body gives out, but I am also realistic that there is a life after rugby. But I also understand that as soon as you stop playing that’s it and why not play as long as you can? I have always said as long as I enjoy it and I am giving something back to the team I am keen to stay at it.”
Having won the Super Rugby title with the Hurricanes in 2016, a NPC win would be special for Shields, and that is his focus over the next two and a bit months.
Wellington v Taranaki fast facts
Sunday’s match will be the 36th NPC fixture between the sides, with Wellington currently ahead on 30 wins to Taranaki’s five in their head-to-head history.
Overall, the pair has clashed 175 times in first-class fixtures going back to 1894, of which Wellington has won 123 Taranaki 47, with five draws and one abandonment.
Wellington has aggregated 1,187 points against Taranaki in all NPC matches, including 154 tries.
Taranaki has aggregated 712 points against Wellington in all NPC matches, including 83 tries.
Leo the Lion out and about at Porirua Park last season.
Wellington v Taranaki history morsels (Previously published on this website in 2021 and updated):
The early matches between Wellington and Taranaki were all tight affairs, the results from their first five meetings between 1894-1898 reading: 0-6, 0-0, 0-6, 3-0 and 0-6.
The match between Wellington and Taranaki in 1907 remains the only provincial first-class match to be officially abandoned in New Zealand. The weather was so bad the referee called the game off at halftime, with Wellington leading 3-0.
Wellington beat Taranaki 12-6 at the Stratford Showgrounds on 10 September 1914, to stop Taranaki’s first Ranfurly Shield tenure at six defences. This was the last shield match for five years as World War One started a fortnight later. Three Taranaki players that played in this game – Henry Dewar and Reg Taylor (both All Blacks) and Outram Young – died in the war. Wellington’s second defence almost five years to the day in 1919 was against Taranaki, winning 18-10.
When Wellington and Taranaki played in 1920, Athletic Park was so cut up and in such a poor state that the field was turned around to run from east to west along the northern end of the field. In bitterly cold conditions, Wellington won 16-5 and retained the Ranfurly Shield.
In a heady seven-week period throughout August and September 1953, Wellington won the Ranfurly Shield off Waikato and defended it five times before losing it to Canterbury at the end of the season. On 29 August Wellington welcomed Taranaki on to Athletic Park for the first of these defences. Taranaki had beaten Wellington 9-6 earlier in the year. With 40,000 spectators and Ferdinand the Bull cramming Athletic Park, Wellington led 18-0 at halftime and went on to win 26-3.
More on this game here:
Wing Ron Jarden scored seven tries in 10 games against Taranaki between 1952-1956, including consecutive braces against them in the second match of two between the Unions in 1954 and the first in 1955.
The Wellington Taranaki match at Hawera in 1962 was the 100th between the unions, but there was no celebration that day for the home team’s goal kickers. Taranaki had 14 shots at goal from tries and penalties and missed the lot. Two drop kicks also went astray. With four unconverted tries, Taranaki won 12-8.
Wellington and Taranaki fought out several nail-biting matches in the 1960s. Two such games in 1964 and 1965 were Taranaki Ranfurly Shield defences, after they had come to Wellington in 1963 and lifted the Log o’ Wood from Wellington just seven days after Wellington had won it off Auckland. In 1964, after three successful defences, Wellington was determined to re-claim the shield. Taranaki led 3-0 late in the match, but Wellington halfback Brian Coulter broke through to score what seemed certain to be the winning try – only for Taranaki centre and former Wellington player Neil Wolfe to snatch the ball away from Coulter at the last moment. The following year, Wellington famously beat the Springboks 20-6 and then set its sights on winning the shield a few weeks later. But, playing against a strong wind, Taranaki held Wellington to 3-3 at halftime and then sailed to an 11-3 win.
Taranaki’s first-ever match in Division 1 of the NPC was against Wellington in 1977. Taranaki won 18-10.
The record for most tries scored in a NPC match by a Wellington player against Taranaki is three, by Lome Fa’atau at New Plymouth in 2003, Jason Woodward at New Plymouth in 2011 and Peter Lakai in Wellington in 2022.
Taranaki’s highest score against Wellington in a NPC match is 54, at Wellington in 2016. Wellington’s highest score against Taranaki is 73, at Wellington in 2004.
The most points scored by a Wellington player in a NPC match against Taranaki is 23, by Jason Woodward at Wellington in 2012.
The most points scored by a Taranaki player in a NPC match against Wellington is 23, by Jason Holland at New Plymouth in 1997. Stephen Perofeta scored 22 when they met in 2021.
