Hawke's Bay outclass Wellington

Gilles Kaka of Hawke's Bay. Photo / Getty Images

Hawke's Bay 40 Wellington 20

Hawkes Bay bounced back from their mid-week defeat to Tasman to see-off big brothers Wellington 40-20 in stunning style at McLean Park in Napier.

It was a convincingly improved display from the homeside, scoring six tries in total including a four-try firsthalf which claimed the bonus point and setup an unattainable halftime lead.

Ne'emia Tialata in his swansong match for the capital side didn't end-up on the right side of the scoreboard as his forward park were comprehensively out-muscled at the crucial breakdown and set piece area.

Fullback Mark Jackman and replacement centre Tua Saseve scored long-range tries in the second half as they cut them open from deep in their half after turning over Wellington's frustrated efforts at scoring.

'We came into the game with the right gameplan tonight and we played in their half which got us some good tries,' said Hika Elliot to Skysport.

'We're really proud of the performance we put out before our home crowd'.

His opposite Jeremy Thrush refused to blame his side's inexperience in the team, but they lacked composure in their attacking half whilst Hawke's Bay side were competently led around the park by Kahn Fotuali'i and Daniel Kirkpatrick.

The victory lifts them to the top of the Championship table and leaves Wellington second-to-last on the Premiership standings but a Southland win against Otago could see them at the bottom by the end of the round.

Hawke's Bay made all the running in the opening ten minutes as they threatened the Weliington line on a number of occasions only for desperate defence to hold them out.

Their guard finally gave way in the 12th minute after 15 phases of tackling, flanker Karl Lowe was driven over a metre in from touch to score the match's opener.

After their defensive toil, Wellington were rewarded on their first visit to the opposition 22 with lock Jeremy Thrush crashing over in the 22nd minute.

The final pass to Thrush may have looked a hint forward in its flight, but the Lions were thankful to have halted the Magpies charge and to have taken an unlikely 8-10 lead.

However the Lions were stuck in headlights in the final ten minutes as the Magpies slammed three tries past them as they dramatically swung the momentum in their favour.

Fullback Mark Jackman sparked the local's second try, making the initial break before being dragged down before the tryline only to offload to Andrew Horrell to score.

Winger Gilles Kaka benefited from Julian Savea's poor chip kick which fell into the hands of halfback Kahn Fotuali'i who broke two tackles before getting the pass to Kaka who outpaced the cover defence.

Horrell scored his second try just before the break after another Savea mistake turned the ball over to winger Richard Buckman who found Horrell on his inside and he won a foot race with James Woodward to score in the corner.

Hawke's Bay 40 (Andrew Horrell 2, Karl Lowe, Gillies Kaka, Tua Sasave, Mark Jackman tries; Horrell 2 pen, 2 con) Wellington 20 (Jeremy Thrush, Jason Woodward tries; Woodward pen, con, Lima Sopoaga pen, con).

- HERALD ONLINE