Lions playing Hawke’s Bay on Saturday, with Lokotui,Broughton-Winterburn, Sanele on bench

The Wellington Lions head to Napier, for their sixth round National Provincial Championship match with their NPC title defence hopes seemingly on shaky ground, although given a boost with their win over Auckland in the wet on Sunday.

That said, with quarter-finals in this competition they only need to make the top 8 so a team can scrape in then catch fire and do an Ories 2023 and go on to win.

All going well, the current ninth placed Lions will claw their way to a bonus point victory against the sixth placed Hawke’s Bay Magpies on Saturday afternoon, kick-off 2.05pm.

This is never easy at McLean Park, one of the more difficult places to win away from home.

Many a Wellington side has come to grief at this venue, from the infamous 58-8 Ranfurly Shield loss in 1926,  to the tight battles in the 1960s to the Clint Newland affair in 2007 to Wellington’s gritty 19-12 win over the Magpies on their last visit there in 2022.

Having lost to one of their Hurricanes region brothers Manawatu a fortnight ago this will be one the players from the capital are not keen on losing.

Lots of familiar names with connections to the other side in both line-ups, with such players in the home team’s named side being first-five Harry Godfrey, centre Nick Grigg and replacement lock Isiah Walker-Leawere. No Kienan Higgins though in the midfield this week though.

The Wellington Lions team for this match is:

1. Kenshi Yamamoto (Japan)
2. James O’Reilly (HOBM)
3. PJ Sheck (Tawa)
4. Hugo Plummer (Tawa)
5. Akira Ieremia (Tawa)
6. Caleb Delany (OBU)
7. Dominic Ropeti (Ories)
8. Matolu Petaia (Tawa)
9. Nui Muriwai (HOBM)
10. Jackson Garden-Bachop (Norths)
11. TJ Clarke (Petone)
12. Callum Harkin (OBU)
13. Matt Proctor (Ories)
14. Losi Filipo (Petone)
15. Stanley Solomon (Petone)

BENCH RIDERS

16. Penieli Poasa (Ories)
17. Senio Sanele (Upper Hutt Rams)
18. Siale Lauaki (Norths)
19. Sione Hallilo (Ories)
20. Cody Lokotui (Wellington)
21. Esi Komaisavai (Paremata-Plimmerton)
22. Kapu Broughton-Winterburn (HOBM)
23. Tom Maiava (Ories)

In some Wellington team news, last week’s captain Julian Savea is out of this one, with Callum Harkin coming into second five alongside Jackson Garden-Bachop in a dual playmaker role. Former Lions captain Matt Proctor captains the team at centre. Stanley Solomon is at fullback.

In the forwards, Japanese prop Kenshi Yamamoto replaces Xavier Numia, who left the field in distress this past Sunday in the win against Auckland after earlier rekindling his backline days by scoring a popular runaway try.

Likewise, Asafo Aumua is out and James O’Reilly replaces him at hooker.

In the loose forwards, Brad Shields is still out injured and Peter Lakai is in the All Blacks, so Dominic Ropeti moves to openside flanker and Matolu Petaia comes into the starting side at No. 8. Petaia is a former student of Hastings Boys’ High School.

Three new faces in the reserves, with Cody Lokotui, Kapu Broughton-Winterburn and Senio Sanele making their debuts, both called up from the Wellington Centurions.

A former Scots College player, Lokotui headed to Christchurch after finishing school early 2022 and spent a handful of seasons in their system and represented the Crusaders U20s. He returned to Wellington at the start of this year and resurfaced at the Wellington Axemen club.

He is a strapping No. 8 with good pace and workrate and is a solid lineout forward along the lines of Dom Ropeti and Caleb Delany (Murray Mexted would be interested). Lokotui also comes with good sporting genes, the son of Lua Lokotui who played many years overseas professionally including for Tonga in two RWCs and for the Hawke’s Bay Magpies in 75 appearances as well as being a 2012 Jubilee Cup winner with Marist St Pat’s. His sister Paris Lokotui is a leading New Zealand netballer and was part of this year’s Mainland Taxtix side that recently won the domestic title, as well as being a former Junior Tall Fern basketballer.

From Bill Brown Park # 2 to McLean Park – Cody Lokotui playing for the Centurions last weekend. 

Broughton-Winterburn is a recently minted Jubilee Cup winner with Hutt Old Boys Marist and scored 12 tries this club season and set up or assisted in many more. He is a former New Zealand U18s Touch player and spent his secondary schooling in Brisbane concentrating on that sport before returning home to Otaki. He played nine matches for Horowhenua-Kapiti in the Heartland Championship last year.

This website profiled Kapu Broughton winterburn several weeks ago on the eve of the Jubilee Cup final HERE 

Sanele has been in the system since he left the school gates of St Pat’s Silverstream in 2022.

Sanele was part of Silverstream’s all-action, powerful front row, who won the Wellington title and drew 17-17 with Napier BHS in that year’s Hurricanes final. He also made last year’s NZ Barbarians Schools squad.

He later played for the New Zealand U20s and is a colourful, dynamic prop who plays for the Upper Hutt Rams in club rugby.

The Lions last met Hawke’s Bay in the last regular season round in October last year, winning 46-28. This was their highest-ever score in a NPC match against Hawke’s Bay. Their previous best was 40 points achieved on two separate occasions: 40-15 at Wellington in 1984 and 40-27 at Wellington in 2017.

Lock Akira Ieremia on the charge against the Magpies when they met last October.

The Lions and the Magpies have a rich history going back 140 years.

Their head-to-head record in the NPC has seen them meet 32 times, with Wellington winning 19 of these to Hawke’s Bay’s 11. There have been two drawn matches.

Wellington’s biggest score against Hawke’s Bay is 67 (67-36) in 1995 in a non-NPC match at Napier and their widest margin of victory is 53 points (49-5) in 1914, their 10 tries in that game also a record. Hawke’s Bay’s biggest win and widest margin of victory against Wellington is 58-8 in 1926 in a famous Ranfurly Shield defence at Napier.

The first match between Hawke’s Bay and Wellington, played on 29 August 1885 at Newtown Park in Wellington, this was Hawke’s Bay’s first inter-union match and Wellington won 4-0 (two tries to nil) at Wellington.

A previous story we wrote and published in 2014 looks at their rivalry throughout the 1920s:

http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/story.php?id=1110

Here is another we did in 2015 that expands on the one above and continues into the 1960s and the 1980s: http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/story.php?id=1639

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