Lions' Nonu aids his All Blacks cause

Ma'a Nonu is determined to look no further ahead than getting back into the Wellington starting 15.

The bullocking midfield back scored a try in a strong return from a broken thumb in the Lions' 65-12 thrashing of Northland.

The win put Wellington at the top of the table and, barring a disaster next week against Southland, a home semifinal.

Though Northland were poor, Nonu seemed to have picked up from where he left off when he broke the thumb against Auckland three weeks earlier.

His form before the injury suggested Nonu was on track to have the word "former" dropped from his description as an All Black.

There was little to discourage that at Westpac Stadium and if Nonu can carry that sort of form into the playoffs he must be a contender for next month's tests against Italy, Wales and France.

Nonu insisted he was not looking that far ahead.

"I'm not thinking about the All Blacks. My dilemma is getting that starting spot," he said.

Blocking his return is Conrad Smith, who has consistently impressed at centre, first outside Nonu and now alongside Tana Umaga.

Both combinations were impressive on Saturday and Nonu did all he could to push his cause with a 21-minute cameo.

He scored a few minutes after coming on and was part of a Wellington blitz that produced three tries in the final eight minutes, with flanker Scott Waldrom's a superb length-of-the-field team effort.

The finish matched the start as Wellington raced to 15-0 after 17 minutes, with tries to wing Lome Fa'atau and Smith, then led 20-7 when wing Sireli Bobo crossed.

They went into the break leading 23-7 but it took a while to get the scoreboard ticking over again.

A double from first five-eighth Riki Flutey, one a slick move off a scrum, saw Wellington regain impetus.

Lions' coach John Plumtree was pleased with Nonu's return but noted he came on when the match was gone as a contest and there was no pressure on him.

Wellington's big win came a week after the impressive thrashing of Taranaki and meant they have scored 19 tries in two games. There were signs against Northland, however, that the players are starting to wait for the tries to come, rather than working toward them.

Flutey was concerned Wellington's soft run into playoffs could leave them underdone.

"It would be nice if we'd had a Canterbury under the belt leading into [the playoffs]. To get a home semifinal we have to beat Southland and we have to beat them really well to get our confidence up leading into the semis."

Flutey, who has played in three NPC finals with Wellington, concedes the players have to lift or they could be off the pace.

"We went through a dull patch there for quite a while. We were 20-7 up and went right away from our structure, which is disappointing."

Flutey believes the lull came because the players stopped working as a team.

"Individuals started looking at gaps and wanting to do things by themselves."

Plumtree confirmed flanker Ben Herring, who has missed two games with a neck injury, was expected to be fit to play against his former Southland teammates in Invercargill. Herring would replace Waldrom, who has been outstanding despite lack of fitness and match play after four months off with a foot injury.

Plumtree gave no clues as to whether Nonu or Smith would start against Southland.

- NZPA


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