Lions and Steamers preparing for seventh round NPC fixture on Saturday

Above: When the Lions and Steamers met in 2022. Wellington won 37-35. Photo: Mike Lewis Pictures. 

A wounded Wellington Lions side regroups to play the Bay of Plenty Steamers in their seventh round NPC fixture at Wellington Stadium on Saturday afternoon, kick-off 3.35pm.

The Lions lost their unbeaten record and the chance to bring the Ranfurly Shield home by falling to Tasman in Blenheim on Sunday, and now turn their attention to the Steamers with their next immediate goal being securing the 2competition points currently likely required required to make the quarter-finals early next month.

BoP are right behind the Lions in third equal, having played the same number of games as the Lions (7). They are coming off a 33-30 win over defending champions Taranaki at home at Tauranga and with a number of game breakers and with a strong Wellington connection in a couple of positions and in the coaching box will rate their chances of victory.

Players in their squad such as Naitoa ah Kuoi, Pasi Tosi, Benet Kumeroa, Reon Paul and now veterans, halfback Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Willis Halalolo, all have Wellington club rugby connections. Head coach Richard Watt cut his teeth at Poneke for many years as a player and coach and assistant James Porter is a former Wellington Pride coach and Petone stalwart.

History will say otherwise though.

Indeed, given their line of talent and the similar styles and attitudes of play, the Steamers have a shocking record against the Lions in the NPC and throughout history.

In the NPC, Wellington’s overall record against the Steamers is: played 37, won 29 (77.8%), lost six and drawn two.

Going back to the genesis of this website’s record keeping (NPC rugby) in 2012, the Lions have won 10 of their past 11 matches over BoP.

Their only loss in this period was in 2021 when the Steamers won 33-32 in Rotorua.

Last year the Lions won 26-14, also in the sulphur city.

In these 11 matches, the Lions have outscored the Steamers by 50 tries to 27.

In 19 home NPC matches Wellington has beaten Bay of Plenty on 16 occasions, including the last five times in succession. There has been one drawn match and Bay of Plenty has won twice in Wellington, but not since their 31-24 victory in September 2010.

The two unions first met in first-class rugby on 30 June 1920, with Wellington winning 22-3. This was a Ranfurly Shield defence for Wellington  – and the story we would have explored more here if Wellington had beaten Tasman on Sunday!

Since that first match, the Lions have won 31 of 39 matches over them overall, scoring 1,155 points and conceding 673.

For more on their history – refer to the following article about their contrasting matches in 1976 and 2004 that was previously published exclusively on this website on 14 September 2016:

For many seasons Wellington either won their National Provincial Championship fixture against Bay of Plenty or the two sides never met as the Steamers spent most of the 1990s playing in the old NPC second division.

But two notable exceptions where in 1976, the inaugural NPC season and which Bay of Plenty won, and in 2004 which was the year that Bay of Plenty took the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland and reached the semi-finals.

Each of these matches between the Lions and the Steamers were thrillers in which they drew 18-18 at Athletic Park in 1976 and the Steamers won 17-13 at home in 2004.

In an uneven scheduling of the NPC, the match in 1976 played in early August was just the Steamers’ second of that year’s championship and Wellington’s third. But after this, BoP stormed through the country and clinched the title by beating Hawke’s Bay 10-7 in their final match.

An even contest was predicted at Athletic Park, Wellington fielding a rearranged backline that was missing wings Bernie Fraser (hamstring injury) and Stu Wilson (NZ Colts duty) up against a hugely experienced BoP side that featured 701 combined caps in its starting XV.

And so it proved, the Evening Post reporting the next day how the two “mediocre” sides of comparable ability “fumbled” to an 18-18 draw, adding “It was a match where errors cost each side 18 points, with mistakes – not attacking rugby – being directly responsible for 36 points.” Wellington led 18-9 at one point, but BoP came back to draw level with three penalties to Greg Rowlands, who was to be the leading points scorer in 1976 with 83.

Above: BoP captain and flanker Tuck Waaka on the burst against Wellington on 5 August 1976. Photo Credit: The Evening Post

Fast-forwarding almost three decades and into the professional era, the performance of BoP was the fairytale story of 2004. They lifted the Shield off Auckland in the opening week, staved off Waikato’s challenge and then lost it to Canterbury. But they won five of their next six games to qualify third for the semi-finals, eventually losing to Canterbury at Christchurch.

This was also the season that the Lions topped the standings at the end of the round-robin for the first time, going on to beat Waikato in their first ever home semi-final at Westpac Stadium and then losing to Canterbury a week later in the final.

Heading into this match, the Lions were expected to win, having beaten the Steamers 33-13 the previous year with Thomas Waldrom scoring two tries and crushed them 74-12 in 2002 with Tana Umaga, Paul Steinmetz and David Holwell scoring braces and Holwell scoring 34 points.

Big defence enabled the Steamers to beat the Lions in this match. On a windy afternoon, BoP had first use of the conditions and held a halftime lead that they weren’t expected to protect in the second spell – especially when Wellington’s Talisman Tana Umaga scored soon after the oranges to close the gap.

But this Steamers side was made of stern stuff and the result came down to injury time with the Lions hammering away looking for a match-winning try. They looked to have secured it when Umaga was held up over the chalk by Steamers loosies Wayne Ormond and Colin Bourke, but the next blast on referee Steve Walsh’s whistle was for fulltime.

See below Hutt Old Boys Marist Premier team and Wellington College Old Boy and now Wellington Lion Ben Tuiomanufili on the Huddy Hui on Wednesday night: