Wellington Lions v Southland Stat Attack

Captain for the second match in a row, Peter Umaga-Jensen touched down for his 19th try in 61 appearances for Wellington.

The Wellington Lions defeated the Southland Stags at home on Sunday. Some facts and figures from the game by Peter Marriott:

Round 5 v Southland: Won 36-12

These two sides have now met 34 times in the NPC. Wellington has won on 28 occasions and Southland five. There was a 12-12 draw in 1980 at Invercargill.

The Wellington Lions have won their last 18 NPC matches on the trot against Southland. The last loss was at Invercargill in 2002 when the home side won 22-20.

In 2021 the two sides met in a rare non-championship match at Porirua. Wellington won 24-22.

The Lions have hosted Southland 19 times winning 18 of those matches and losing just one. That was at the then named WestpacTrust Stadium in 2001. Wellington has won the last 12 matches in succession.

For the second match in a row in 2024, the Lions have held their opposition scoreless in the first half.

Wellington’s 36 points is their lowest score against Southland since winning 30-25 at Wellington in 2011.

Wellington’s first points against Southland was a try after six minutes: this is the earliest they have scored their first points in a match so far this year.

In their last eight matches against Southland, the Lions have scored respectively five, eight, nine, nine, eight, six, six and six tries: that is 57 tries at an average of seven tries per match. In the same sequence of matches, Southland has scored one, none, three, two, one, three, three and two tries: a total of 15 tries at less than two tries per match.

This match was the first of three within nine days for the Lions in what is now commonly referred to as “storm week”.

Wellington has strung together 25 wins in their last 27 matches against all sides. The two losses were both against Hawke’s Bay last year: at Wellington in a match which doubled as a Ranfurly Shield defence (lost 18-20) and two weeks later in the Semifinal, also at Wellington, when the visitors won 25-24.

Wellington has now conceded 1242 tries in all NPC matches. Conveniently, 621 have been conceded in 255 home matches and 621 have been conceded in 250 away matches.

Tom Maiava made his Wellington Lions debut when he replaced Matt Proctor in the 64th minute.

A total of 31 different players have made at least one appearance for Wellington this season and that number includes seven debutants.

Kyle Preston scored his fifth try in his 16th match. It was his first try against Southland. Preston also scored Wellington’s first try in their opening match of the season against Auckland.

Riley Higgins picked up his 10th try in his 23rd match. He also scored against Southland last year.

Leni Apisai’s try was his seventh in 35 matches for the Lions. He also scored against Southland in his “first career” with the Lions in 2015.
In his first start in his fourth match, Stanley Solomon scored his first try for the Lions.

Tjay Clarke is becoming a try-scoring machine and now has seven in 12 appearances for the Lions.

His five so far this year are the most by a Wellington player: he has scored a try in each of the five Lions matches played in 2024.

Jackson Garden-Bachop brought up 60 points in all matches against Southland. His six points in this match took his total in 94 appearances for Wellington to 748 points and put him level with the late Mick Williment in third place on Wellington’s all-time point scorers list. Garden-Bachop’s 748 points are made up of 14 tries, 204 conversions, 88 penalties and two drop goals. Williment’s 748 points are made up of eight tries, 164 conversions, 118 penalties and 14 drop goals.

Jackson Garden-Bachop is now 49 points behind John Gallagher (second on the list with 797 points) and 145 behind Allan Hewson (at the top of the list with 893 points).

Garden-Bachop is averaging 8.4 points a match in 2024. With a minimum of five and a maximum of eight matches remaining, it is possible he could pass John Gallagher’s tally this year.

Wellington retained the Paladin Trophy.

This trophy is played for by teams which are outfitted by the sportswear apparel company Paladin. It is contested between Auckland, Manawatu, North Harbour, Southland and Wellington.

Before the match a moment’s silence was observed in memory of former Wellington and Southland player the late Norm Hewitt. A special jersey was presented to the family at the ground.

Morgan Mitchell, who started at No 3 for Southland, made his debut for the union in 2014. Last year after having played eight matches for his side which had been eliminated from the finals, Mitchell was loaned-out to Wellington for what turned out to be their last match of the season: the Semifinal against Hawke’s Bay.

Nick Hogan was in charge of his third match involving Wellington. The previous two (in 2021 and 2023) had been against Manawatu, both of which were played in Palmerston North.

Wellington’s overall record in the NPC is: played 505 matches, won 321 (63.6%), lost 172 and drawn 12.