Wellington Lions v Southland Stags Facts & Figures

The Wellington Lions created history by recording their highest-ever score in a NPC match. Their previous best had been a 74-20 win over Bay of Plenty at Tauranga in 2002. Two years later they           beat Taranaki 73-28 at Wellington.

The Lions have now beaten Southland in their last 19 encounters on the trot. The total is 20 though ifthe non-NPC match played at Porirua in 2021 is included.

Wellington’s record against Southland in NPC is: played 35, won 29, lost five and drawn one. Of the 20 matches Wellington has hosted at home venues, Southland has won just once: 13-10 at the then-named WestpacTrust Stadium in 2001.

The Lions record of 19 home wins against Southland is equals the number of wins against Canterbury, from 29 matches.

Wellington’s winning margin of 56 points is just shy of their previous best against Southland (58 points)in their 61-3 win in 1999.

The Lions have now passed 50 points in a match on 34 occasions including eight times against Southland. Their previous highest total against the southern side was 61 which had been achieved twice: 61-3 at the old Athletic Park in Wellington in 1999 and 61-12 at Invercargill in 2017.

In scoring 11 tries against Southland the Lions equalled their record for most tries scored in a NPC match. It was the third time they had scored that many and on the same number of occasions they have scored 10.

The first team to concede 11 tries to the Lions was Bay of Plenty at Rotorua in 1977 when the visitors won 54-9. The second time was against North Auckland (now Northland) at Athletic Park in 1984 when the Lions won 58-12. In both instances tries were then worth four points. Since then Wellington has scored 10 tries against Bay of Plenty in 2002, Taranaki in 2004 and against Counties Manukau in 2022.

Ten of the 11 tries scored against Southland were converted and this equalled the Lions record in NPC matches: 10 conversions were successfully kicked against Taranaki (from 10 attempts) in 2004. In that match David Holwell converted eight tries and Piri Weepu two. In the Southland match Jackson Garden-Bachop kicked seven and Ruben Love three.

Wellington brought up 100 tries in home matches against Southland and the total now rests on 102. Southland is the only side to concede 100 tries but Northland and Taranaki are both just one try short each with 99 conceded.

Southland also became the seventh side to concede 150 tries in all matches against Wellington. Those seven sides are Waikato (173 tries), Canterbury (171), Taranaki (158), Bay of Plenty (157), Southland (157), Northland (152) and Otago (151).

The Lions made four changes to their starting XV from that which started in the previous match against Northland. There were two changes in the backs and two in the forwards.

John Falloon made his debut for Wellington, exactly five years to the day the person he replaced, Caleb Delany, made his debut. Delany was replaced for the first time this year which brought to an end his run of having been on the field for every minute during the first seven rounds.

Falloon is the eighth to debut in 2025 and he has taken the number of players to have made an appearance for the Lions in 2025 to 35.

Callum Harkin scored his first tries for Wellington, a hattrick, and is the fourth player to score three tries against Southland in a NPC match after Roy Kinikinilau (at Wellington in 2005), Jeremy Thrush (Invercargill in 2015) and Ben Lam at Wellington in 2018.

After his previous eight starts had been in the No 15 jersey (four starts), No 12 jersey (one start) and No 10 jersey (three starts), Harkin wore the No 11 jersey for the first time.

Stanley Solomon also scored two tries having scored three against Manawatu earlier in Round 4. He now has a total of seven tries in 16 matches. He also scored against Southland last year.

Ruben Love has kicked eight points against Southland.

The other four try scorers were James O’Reilly (12 tries in 76 matches), Caleb Delany (three in 56 matches), Losi Filipo (17 in 34 matches) and Siale Lauaki (four in 33 matches).

Jackson Garden-Bachop kicked a perfect seven from seven to give him 14 points and a total in 108 matches for the Lions of 855 points. Included in that total are 74 points against Southland. His fourth attempt in the match was a drop kick.

Garden-Bachop is inexorably closing in on Allan Hewson’s Wellington Lions points scoring record of 893 points and is now just 38 adrift. Hewson played 108 matches for the Lions.

Garden-Bachop has scored 72 points so far and lies in third place on this year’s points scoring list behind Taranaki’s Josh Jacomb (105 points) and Cam Millar from Otago who has 86 points.

Southland players Paula Latu, Michael Manson and Nic Souchon all scored their first tries against Wellington. Mika Muliaina and Byron Smith, who both kicked a conversion, also scored their first points against Wellington.

At the end of Round 8 Wellington sits in ninth place in the Standings, up one place from the previous Round.

Stu Curran refereed his second match of the year involving Wellington, and his sixth overall.

This week’s round was designated a cultural round. The Wellington and Southland sides were welcomed onto the field by the Aotea College kapa haka team.

Wellington’s overall record in the NPC is: played 521 matches, won 330 (63.3%), lost 179 and drawn 12.