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Wellington and Canterbury to resume long-standing rivalry on Sunday

It is mild curiosity that Sunday’s fourth round NPC fixture between the Wellington Lions and the Canterbury Lambs is the fourth consecutive match between these sides played in Christchurch.

One of those matches was the 2022 final but the other two were also round-robin games, so if the red and black men don’t want to come to the capital, the Lions will come to them, seeking their for fourth consecutive win to start their season.

They will be grounded though, with Sunday’s 39-31 victory over Manwawatu achieved in ropey circumstances and missing their captain and flanker Du Plessis Kirifi who escaped a red card offence but not a broken jaw for his hit on flyhalf Reece McDonald.

Canterbury are coming off a 21-27 loss to Hawke’s Bay on Wednesday night, which was also the same score they beat Auckland by over the weekend. They are 2/2 on the standings.

As the cliché goes, current form will count for very little on Sunday at 2.05pm, with the two unions having a rich history of keen contests against each other.

Indeed, Wellington versus Canterbury is one of the most heated battles of all since the start of the National Provincial Championship, but the home side has the upper hand in Christchurch.

Some more facts and figures below heading into the match – note much of this below is not fresh content, it was previously published on this website in 2020, and has been updated. 

Wellington has played Canterbury 55 times in NPC matches: Wellington have won 27, Canterbury 26 and there have been two draws.

Canterbury have scored 167 NPC tries against Wellington and Wellington have scored 163 tries in the NPC against Canterbury.

Canterbury have scored 1,419 points against Wellington and Wellington have scored 1,334 points in these meetings.

However, in Christchurch, the home side has the upper hand. Twenty eight of those 55 matches have been played in Christchurch: Wellington has won just eight to Canterbury’s 18. There have been two draws.

Wellington goes into this clash having won their last two matches against Canterbury. They won 36-31 last year and 26-18 in 2022 (final). They have not won three in a row since 1999-2000.

As well as valuable NPC Premiership points on the line, so is the Harry Saundercock Memorial Trophy – one of several trophies Wellington plays for against their provincial rivals.

This was presented by the Saundercock family in 1965 in memory of Harry Saundercock who was the first member of the CRFU to represent Canterbury Rugby sub unions in 1935.

If Wellington retain this, it will mean they have won all four inter-provincial trophies this year so far, the others being the Fred Lucas Cup (Auckland), the John F Henning Trophy (Taranaki) and the Coronation Cup (Manawatu).

Overall, Wellington and Canterbury have met on the first-class rugby field 180 times. Wellington have won 92 of these, Canterbury 78 and there have been 10 draws.

Their first meeting was at at Newtown Park in 1883 with Wellington winning 1 to 0 (one try to nil). They played their 100th match in 1968.

After their first 118 encounters from 1883-1978 Wellington had scored 1492 points and Canterbury 1358 – an average winning margin of just over one point after nearly a century of play.

Just three Wellington players have scored three or more tries against Canterbury in one match. These are J. Magee (1908) and D.W Hanson (1988) who both crossed for hat tricks and wing Bernie Fraser who scored four in 1978.

The most points by a Wellington player against Canterbury in a single match is 22 by Jon Preston on 1994. The next most are: Jackson Garden-Bachop (2017) with 20, Ron Jarden (1953) and Brian Cederwall (1981) with 19 and J.R Watt (1959) and Riki Flutey (2002) with 18.

The Canterbury-Wellington match set down for 14 July 1945 in Christchurch was cancelled on the morning of the game because Lancaster Park was under snow and water. Wellington later made a special trip to Christchurch, on 29 September, and won 23-6.

Wellington’s 60-14 win over Canterbury in 2017 is Wellington’s largest ever against Canterbury. The previous biggest was 48-11 in 1990. Canterbury had never conceded 60 points previously. Their previous highest concessions were 59 against North Harbour in 1994 and Waikato in 2002.

Previous story above about when Wellington won the Ranfurly Shield off Canterbury in 1956 http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/story.php?id=2604

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