It took them 22 years, but Wellington have finally found their way back to the top of the provincial ladder after a gritty win over Canterbury in Christchurch this evening.
Wellington took down Canterbury 26-18 to give them their first NPC title since 2000, also leaving them with a well-stocked trophy cabinet for the summer after winning the Ranfurly Shield this season too.
The win was built on a gritty defence and hardfought battles at the ruck, piling pressure on the Cantabrians which led to uncharacteristic errors in front of their home crowd on a clear Christchurch evening.
It meant that France-bound former All Black George Bridge didn't get his fairytale finish in the red and black hoops but the likes of TJ Perenara and Julian Savea got to add a special chapter to their careers late in their stories.
The pair have been crucial for this erratic Wellington outfit who showed with their opening try of tonight's final how dangerous they can be when given a counterattacking chance.
The Lions stole a ball from a Canterbury lineout deep in their own half and instead of opting to relieve pressure with a kick, they exerted it by shifting the ball wide to Du'Plessis Kirifi who linked up with Ruben Love to put the fullback over.
Canterbury's lineout inaccuracies would plague them throughout the evening while Wellington's set piece saw Asafo Aumua - called up to the All Blacks for their end-of-year tour as injury cover for Dane Coles - and the Lions take the lead into halftime as the hooker finished off 10 phases of play to find the chalk.
Jackson Gardon-Bachop kept the scoreboard ticking over with his boot in the second half before Aidan Morgan took over the kicking responsibilities and while he missed his first two penalties, he made sure to claim the one that mattered in the final minute of the match.
Wellington 26 [Ruben Love, Asafo Aumua tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 2 con, 3 pen, Aidan Morgan pen]
Canterbury 18 [Manasa Mataele, Ngatungane Punivai tries; Fergus Burke con, 2 pen]
HT: 17-13
SHARE ME