Rugby: Unstoppable Lions roar into final

By Richard Boock

The writing was on the wall at the break.

Perhaps not for everyone who witnessed Wellington overpowering Waikato 38-17 in Saturday's NPC semifinal in Hamilton, but certainly for the winning team's coach.

Never mind that the Lions had squandered all manner of opportunities while establishing a 10-3 halftime lead, or that their sharpshooter, David Holwell, was kicking like a blind man - Graham Mourie was well pleased.

The man who before this match had watched Wellington score 19 of their past 21 tries in the second half, was greatly encouraged by what he saw in the first 40 minutes at Rugby Park, particularly from his forwards and midfield backs.

That some of the finishing was diabolical, that a chance to pull clear by about 20 points was missed, and that Holwell apparently needed his team-mates to point him in the general direction of the goalposts - these were mere details lost in the bigger picture.

"In fact, that was a huge result for us at halftime," said Mourie, eyes twinkling for an instant. "We knew we had to keep dominating, but considering what's happened in our recent games, it was a good position to be in."

Wellington ended up scoring five tries to two in a performance which again showcased the blossoming form of No 8 Filo Tiatia and the midfield generalship of Jason O'Halloran.

"Filo's been our player of the season," Mourie said. "He's been absolutely sensational week-in, week-out. And Jason's just the consummate professional. His option-taking is a real strength."

Waikato, unbeaten at home since 1997, copped the backlash from opponents who had not been this far since the semifinals were introduced in 1992.

They struggled to match Wellington's intensity in the tight or their urgency in the loose forwards, and as a result were completely outplayed in the backs, where normally dangerous runners such as Bruce Reihana, Damian Karauna and Roger Randle were starved of space and opportunities.

The wonder was that the hosts were just seven down at halftime (and only then because of a try from broken play by Jason Spice) but the margin steadily grew after the resumption as Wellington made their characteristic second-half charge.

Holwell, who had missed three point-blank penalties in the first half, startled everyone by landing an early goal, O'Halloran ghosted through for the first of his two touchdowns, big Norm Hewitt muscled over from a Dion Waller lineout tap, and Ali Koko celebrated with a 60m intercept try.

Waikato launched a counter of sorts and narrowed the gap to 24-10 and 31-17 with tries to Randle and Ryan Wheeler, respectively, but each time the Lions struck back immediately at the other end of the park.

Koko's try came after the big winger latched on to a Matt Cooper skip-pass 15 minutes from fulltime, while O'Halloran's second try silenced the cowbells for the last time this season, and persuaded hundreds in a slightly below capacity crowd to seek a premature exit.