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| Vodafone Wellington Lions v Waikato round four preview |
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New Vodafone Wellington Lions coaches Andre Bell and Richard Watt have named a settled team to host Waikato at Westpac Stadium on Saturday night from that which beat Otago last weekend.
In one positional change to the starting fifteen for this ITM Cup round four encounter against the Mooloo men, Shaun Treeby and Charlie Ngatai switch places in the midfield. Treeby moves from second five-eighth to centre and Ngatai moves in from centre to second five-eighth where he made all six of his appearances in his debut season last year. In one change to the reserves, first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga comes on to the bench in place of Hayden Cripps and will make his ITM debut should he take the field. The Vodafone Wellington Lions return to Westpac Stadium after beating Otago 35-22 in Dunedin last Saturday and will be eager for their third win of the 2010 season to break free from a congested points table after three rounds. The Lions are one of five teams on 10 points behind early leaders Southland and two points clear of Waikato in eighth place who were defeated by Taranaki 23-33 at home in Hamilton last Saturday. The Mooloo contenders will be desperate for victory over the Lions to keep in touch with the competition frontrunners and will be hoping to repeat their 23-18 win over Wellington last year when they met at home at Waikato Stadium. In this corresponding clash last year Waikato were also coming off a disappointing loss the week before, to Tasman, and were in vital need of a strong performance against the Lions. They scored three tries in the first half to lead 20-6, before the Lions came back through the boot of Dan Kirkpatrick, who kicked six penalties. Last year's fixture against Waikato was just the third time in the past five seasons that the Lions hadn't scored a try in a match, with the others being the international against the British and Irish Lions in 2005 and the final against Canterbury in 2008. It also ran counter to the pattern of recent Wellington - Waikato encounters that were previously fast paced and high scoring affairs. Two years ago, in their last clash at Westpac Stadium, the Lions won 45-33 at home after racing to a match winning 26-0 lead after 18 minutes before Waikato hit back with two tries before halftime and a further three in the second half in a 12-try thriller. This followed on from a sequence of symmetrical scoring over the previous four matches between the two sides that saw Wellington's scores in these games against Waikato being 41, 21, 31 and 41, and Waikato's four scores against the Lions being 17, 37, 37 and 27. In 2007 Wellington won 41-27 at Waikato Stadium, while Waikato won twice at home in 2006. These included a 37-21 defeat in their Top Six fixture and a 37-31 loss in the final. In 2005 the Lions outscored Waikato five tries to two in defeating them 41-17 in Hamilton, while also beating them twice at home in 2004, 28-16 and 37-17. Saturday's match will be the 33rd ITM Cup/NPC fixture between Wellington and Waikato since their inaugural NPC meeting in 1976. Of the previous 32, the Lions have won 18 and Waikato 14. Wellington and Waikato first met in 1923 and have played 62 times overall with Wellington winning 33, Waikato 28 and one draw (0-0 in 1966). Their meetings were initially sporadic, clashing in 1923, 1929 and not playing each other again until 1952, but then every year from 1952-1977 and again from 1981 to present when Waikato were back in the first division after a three-year absence. Wellington's record in all ITM Cup/NPC matches against Waikato in Wellington is played13, won 10 and Lost 3. The Lions' highest score over Waikato was a 55-18 win in 1988, fullback John Gallagher kicking six conversions and 27 points in the 37-point win. Other notable victories over Waikato in the ITM Cup/NPC era include: 47-26 (1984), 42-29 (1998), 38-17 (1999, semi-final), 48-23 (2000) and 30-29 (2000, semi-final). Five Wellington players have scored hat tricks of tries against Waikato. These are: K. Hawea (1973), W. Proctor (1976), Emosi Koloto (1988), Tana Umaga (1995) and Hosea Gear (2006). Three of these were in Hamilton and two in losing sides. The most penalties kicked by a Wellington player in an ITM Cup/NPC match against Waikato is six by Allan Hewson at Hamilton in 1985, Piri Weepu at Wellington in 2004 and Kirkpatrick at Hamilton last year. Wellington has scored a total of 104 tries in all ITM Cup/NPC matches against Waikato. Waikato has scored a total of 93 tries in all ITM Cup/NPC matches against Wellington. The Vodafone Wellingtons team to play Waikato is: 1. John Schwalger Reserves 16. Ged Robinson
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