Robinson marks return with an impressive win

Richard Kahui gets the better of Ma'a Nonu. Sandra Mu / Getty Images.

Waikato 37 Wellington 21

He might not have gotten all teary eyed about it but just pulling on a Waikato jersey again was something of a triumph for Keith Robinson last night.

All of the pre-match talk had been about the return of a handful of All Blacks from their sabbaticals but the real talking point in Hamilton was the return of Robinson.

The burly lock has been missing from action since 2004 with a pesky back injury but he played like a seasoned regular last night, getting through a highly efficient 80 minutes of work.

The six-time All Black was a surprise selection, pushing Toby Lynn and his tresses to the bench, but looked like he had never been away.

In his absence, however, the country's locking stocks have improved markedly and, while it was great to see 29-year-old Robinson return, the All Black selectors may not be taking note they way they would have 18 months ago.

In many ways, Robinson represented what Waikato delivered last night - unlike last weekend, they went for the full 80 with an intensity that will see them win more than they lose.

With a home game against North Harbour next Sunday, the Mooloo men can feel optimistic of remaining at home when the quarterfinals roll around.

As for Wellington, they will need to beat Otago at the 'Brook next weekend to ensure they avoid one of the big boys when the competition finally moves into third gear.

Wellington simply missed too many one-on-one tackles last night to seriously threaten the home side, slipping off a staggering 22 tackles, and were outplayed in most of the individual match-ups.

Although they scored the first try, when wing Cory Jane latched on to a brilliant Conrad Smith grubber kick in the third minute, they allowed Sitiveni Sivivatu to waltz in for two tries (the second when the impressive Richard Kahui pushed off Ma'a Nonu) and fell 10 points behind inside 20 minutes.

Wellington tried to shore things up by bringing Tana Umaga into the midfield inside half an hour and they were well in the game at halftime when they went to the sheds trailing 20-14.

But Waikato took control soon after the restart with the best try of the match, finished by livewire halfback Brendon Leonard.

When Liam Messam scored in the corner soon after with his first touch, the game was effectively over.

Jimmy Gopperth gave Wellington a glimmer of hope with a try but they never really threatened and Byron Kelleher put the icing on the Waikato cake with a try on fulltime.

Although the game was marred by a high number of turnovers, it was a step or three up from much of the rugby on display in the opening rounds of the competition.

Robinson wouldn't have minded too much what the quality was like - for him, it was just good to be back.

Waikato 37 (S. Sivivatu 2, B. Leonard, L. Messam, B. Kelleher tries, D. Hill 2 pens, 3 con)
Wellington 21 (C. Jane, B. Herring, J. Gopperth tries, J. Gopperth 3 cons).
HT: 20-14.