Lions stroll into the play-offs

The Wellington Lions have guaranteed themselves a spot in the NPC semifinals after a 27-14 win over Southland in Invercargill in Saturday.

The result ends the Stags’ season, and means Auckland must beat Tasman on Sunday to make the semifinals.

The result saw Wellington secure 48 points to level with Taranaki who had beaten North Harbour in a 12-try feast at New Plymouth earlier in the day.

Wellington move into second on the table because they had beaten Taranaki last week.

The Lions had to fight back after trailing the home side 14-10 at half-time.

Tajhon Mailata, Alapati Leiua, and Ged Robinson scored for Wellington, while Glen Horton and James Wilson scored for the Stags.

The encounter in Invercargill was played at breathtaking pace by two sides determined the run the ball deep and wide at every opportunity.

Wellington’s young, but dangerous backline showed their lack of experience in the midst of the frenetic pace, while Southland were guided by the calming influence of flyhalf Robbie Robinson.

* Earlier Taranaki kept alive their hopes of reaching the NPC semifinals.

The amber and blacks have held on to beat North Harbour 49-47 in an entertaining match in Albany.

North Harbour flyhalf Michael Harris narrowly missed a conversion on the final hooter that would have left the match a draw.

Taranaki captain Craig Clarke says they did it the hard way, coming back from 14 points down at half-time. Clarke says they knew they had to play an expansive game to secure a bonus point, but Harbour also played expansively and scored some good tries.

Taranaki are currently third on the NPC ladder, but need results to go their way to make the semifinals.

* Otago secured this year’s NPC wooden spoon, following their 24-46 loss to Manawatu at Carisbrook.

Manawatu led 18-7 at half-time and scored six tries to three to avoid finishing the competition in last position.

James Oliver, Craig Clare, Hadleigh Parkes, Rob Foreman, Lewis Marshall and Karl Bryson all scored for the Turbos, with flyhalf Aaron Cruden kicking 16 points.

Alando Soakai, Paula Kinikinilau and Glenn Dickson scored for Otago.

* On Friday defending NPC champions Canterbury suffered a disappointing 6-26 loss to Waikato in Hamilton, but still finished top of the standings.

They have qualified for a home semifinal and will also host the Final if they advance that far.

Waikato scored two tries to nil, but strangely decided against pressing home their advantage and going for the four-try bonus point – which would have taken them clear of Canterbury to the top of the table.

Canterbury were second best in most facets of the game on Friday. The forwards struggled against an efficient Waikato pack and the Red and Black backs too often tried to get things going from behind the advantage line.

* On Thursday Northland played spoilers when they held off a desperate Bay of Plenty to win a see-sawing national provincial championship match 36-24 in Whangarei.

The Steelers went into the match lying sixth on the table, and needing a bonus-try win to give themselves the best chance of a semifinals berth.

However, the Taniwha – out of the running for play-off honours in 10th place – shut down Bay of Plenty’s top-four hopes.

Northland also managed to give veteran David Holwell a perfect farewell present, after he announced his retirement from first-class rugby after 146 NPC matches.

All the Week 13 scorers and scorers:

Wellington 27-14 Southland

Scores:

Southland:
Tries: Horton, Wilson
Cons: Robinson 2

Wellington:
Tries: Mailata, Leuia, Robinson.
Cons: Sopoaga 3
Pens: Sopoaga 2

Otago 24-46 Manawatu

Scores:

Otago:
Tries: Soakai, Kinikinilau, Dickson
Cons: Noakes 2, Dickson
Pen: Noakes

Manawatu:
Tries: Oliver, Clare, Parkes, Foreman, Marshall, Bryson
Cons: Cruden 2
Pens: Cruden 4

North Harbour 47-49 Taranaki

Scorers:

North Harbour:
Tries: Luamanu 3, King 2, Chris Smylie
Cons: Harris 4
Pens: Harris 3

Taranaki:
Tries: Hayward, G Pisi 2, Schwalger, Smith, Vunisa
Cons: Barrett 5
Pens: Barrett 2

Waikato 26-6 Canterbury

Scorers:

Waikato:
Tries: Bradley, Anesi
Cons: Renata 2
Pens: Renata 4

Canterbury:
Pens: Slade 2

Northland 36-24 Bay of Plenty:

For Northland:
Tries: Holwell, Bancroft, Budd, Caine
Cons: Munro 4
Pen: Munro

For Bay of Plenty:
Tries: Moa, Hohneck, McQuoid
Cons: Delany 2, Bourke
Pen: Bourke

(* For all the Week 13 teams, CLICK HERE!)