Counties Manukau 31
Wellington 25
Do not adjust your sets, Counties Manukau are two from two and leading the national provincial championship.
At the Cake Tin yesterday, the Tana Umaga-less visitors caused a boilover by beating Wellington in a performance that will have Southlanders very nervous about a certain Log o' Wood.
With Counties and Southland both on nine competition points - the former has a superior for and against - the stakes could hardly be higher on Saturday.
Southland must suddenly be wondering which sadist made the draw.
That's the future, for now coach Milton Haig wants to make sure his players acknowledge the magnitude of the win against a team they last beat in 1997. Counties last night flew back from the capital and had a recovery session to look forward to at 10am, but a few drinks would have been supped and a couple of stories swapped in the intervening hours.
"It's important we celebrate it and enjoy it. People do tend to move on too quickly. The fact of the matter is when we come together [today] our minds will move on to the next job."
Counties raced to a big lead through tries to Reynold Lee-Lo and Ahsee Tuala, and only a lack of common sense from the television match official denied them a third.
Debutant first five-eighths Baden Kerr kept the scoreboard ticking over with a near flawless kicking display and when the teams turned Counties had an improbable 23-3 lead. It was a lead that, when supplemented by another Tuala try and a Kerr penalty, was insurmountable.
Haig has been quick to point to the vastly improved work of his forwards, but it is his backs, especially the quicksilver Tim Nanai-Williams at fullback, that are going to strike fear into the hearts of all they meet. "They will [create tries], but again it does come back to what we're doing up front and giving them front-foot ball."
Wellington really only looked likely when big Charlie Ngatai entered the midfield in the second half. He made a big bust that led to Hosea Gear's try, scored one late himself and was always a handful. "In past seasons we would have relented and Wellington would have come away with a late win," said Haig, "but we've managed to cross those barriers these days."
Wellington captain Neemia Tialata, who had a certain try spectacularly wrenched from his grasp late in the game, could only lament a lack of ball control that did not allow their vaunted outside backs, including Gear and Julian Savea, into play more.
"The problem was turning over our ball and not looking after the pill," Tialata said. "We can't get the ball to them if we can't look after the pill in those first, second and third rucks. We're going to have to address that."
Wellington travel to Dunedin to play Otago on Saturday night.
