Wellington still unbeatable

By WYNNE GRAY

Wellington continued their unbeaten surge through the NPC last night with a 37-17 win against Waikato at the CakeTin.

That anguish began when flanker Scott Couch broke his leg as he scored late in the first spell to give his team a 17-10 lead but from there Waikato failed to score another point.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Wellington who sealed the game in the 65th minute when flanker Jerry Collins finished a 70m move involving a number of his teammates as they won a crucial turnover. Victory was a tribute to the home forwards who recovered from a halftime deficit to increase the pressure so much on Waikato they conceded five consecutive penalties to Piri Weepu.

Waikato were rarely in Wellington territory in the opening quarter but managed to score twice.

The first was a 60m individual gem from halfback Byron Kelleher in his debut for his new province. Kelleher tapped a penalty and then sprinted, twisted and swerved his way through a disorganised defence for a marvellous solo try.

The next try was just as impressive for the teamwork from the visitors. After several phases David Hill broke the sliding defence with an inside pass to his captain Stephen Bates who pounded through two tacklers to the line.

Fellow looseforward Couch completed a similar manouevre for the third try just before halftime but at significant personal cost.

As he crunched through Wellington skipper Rodney So'oialo to the line, Couch broke his right leg near his ankle to compound Waikato's dreadful injury toll this season.

Wellington's only try in the first half was a glimpse of the smooth skills of centre Conrad Smith who ran into a gap from a neat Jerry Collins pass and then outflanked Todd Miller. The extra points from the home side came from the boot of halfback Piri Weepu.

Waikato's plan was to kick in behind the Wellington wings while they also worked on the uncertainty of fullback Shannon Paku in his decisions on whether to run or return the kicks from David Hill.

It was an effective scheme while Wellington chose to use the blindside a great deal, had Weepu kicking into the box or Ma'a Nonu trying to bust in midfield. Nonu usually beat the first tackle but was collared by the cover. That changed after the interval when Nonu created enormous momentum with his busts as Wellington built on the possession advantage.