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Jason Woodward scores for Wellington - Source: Photosport -
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Follow the action as Otago take on the boys from the capital under the roof at Forsyth Barr.
FULLTIME
Wellington 49 (Matt Proctor 3, Jeremy Thrush, Frae Wilson, Jason Woodward tries; Woodward seven conversions) Otago 22 (Tom Franklin, TJ Ioane, Shota Horie tries; Hayden Parker two conversions & one penalty); HT: 35-10
The game was over in the first 20 minutes, after the Lions had already secured their four-try bonus point. But Otago stayed honest to the end and probably deserved to come away with something to show.
Still, you can't miss that many tackles and expect a reward.
SECOND HALF
80th minute: Otago 22-49 Wellington
The Lions have a last chance to top the 50 points, but a knock-on at a ruck conceeds possession to the home team, who are still searching for that bonus-point try. They try to run out of their 22 and when a pass goes loose, Wellington bats the ball into touch.
72nd minute: Otago 22-49 Wellington
TRY! Now they have one - the forward make a bid for the line and when the ball is cleared, Tanaka finds fellow Japanese international Horie, who weaves past a defender to score. Parker converts.
70th minute: Otago 15-49 Wellington
Otago haven't given up here and if they were a little closer, they'd have taken a few more penalty attempts. As it is, they need tries for bonus points and they seem to have one here as Ioane spins over the line in a maul. But he's deemed to have been held up and a five-metre scrum results.
60th minute: Otago 15-49 Wellington
TRY! The crowd is not happy. Ngatai takes a gap, finds Treeby and he tosses the ball wide to Proctor, who's across for his third. But the final pass definitely looked forward and the home side had seen a try called back a few minutes ago for a pass that seemed less forward than that. The calls are going Wellington's way too, and Woodward converts.
52nd minute: Otago 15-42 Wellington
TRY! Ioane was subbed on at halftime and has a reputation for sparking something. He charges towards the line and is lowered in a tackle by halfback Wilson - a great effort from the little fella. But Ioane reaches out to plant over the chalk. Parker misses the conversion.
49th minute: Otago 10-42 Wellington
TRY! The Lions are attacking, attacking, attacking - recycling the ball and building pressure. Eventually, it's Woodward that finds the space to dash across and then converts.
This looks like a huge lead on the scoreboard, but Otago have shown themselves capable of running in tries this season, it's not insurmountable.
FIRST HALF
39th minute: Otago 10-35 Wellington
TRY! Proctor makes a long run from his own half and finds support from Wilson. When the halfback's pass is batted away, Proctor is there to gather and place against the base of the upright, quickly confirmed by referee Brown. Woodward keeps his perfect record.
27th minute: Otago 10-28 Wellington
Treeby is pinged for not allowing the tackled ball to release. Otago kick for touch and from the lineout, they drive to within centimetres of the tryline. Thrush is eventually warned for a professional foul after pulling the maul down. Another penalty, another lineout ... another penalty, another lineout and eventually Franklin bounces over. Good reward for relentless pressure. Parker converts.
20th minute: Otago 3-28 Wellington
TRY! Bonus point already. Mamea has looked impressive in his outings for the Lions this season and he busts down the right side, flicking a pass to Savea inside. When he's collared, Wilson takes his offload to score. Woodward is spot on again.
16th minute: Otago 3-21 Wellington
Wellington fail to secure the kick-off and are caught offside. Parker takes the opportunity to settle things down with a penalty attempt just outside the 22 and is on target.
15th minute: Otago 0-21 Wellington
TRY! This is getting ugly quickly! Wellington are just relentless, using an attacking scrum to launch another attack. Wave after wave of forwards pounding the Otago line, until captain Thrush plunges over. Woodward succeeds with the conversion.
10th minute: Otago 0-14 Wellington
TRY! The Wellington scrum puts big pressure on their opponents and when Tanaka loses control of the bobbling ball, Savea is on hand to snaffle it up and sprint across for another try. This guys is all class! Woodward converts from a handy position.
Sixth minute: Otago 0-7 Wellington
TRY! Ngatai gathers a high ball in centrefield and later in the move, the ball comes right. Popoali'i races out of the defensive line and leaves the Lions with a three-man overlap, which sees Proctor over in the corner. Woodward has goalkicking duties and converts from the sideline.
Third minute: Otago 0-0 Wellington
Wellington make good ground down the left, with Reddish eventually dragged down just short of the tryline. After several phases of play, they're awarded a penalty, but opt to kick for the sideline and the opportunity dies when they're penalised.
First minute: Otago 0-0 Wellington
Wellington have been hit by the late withdrawal of Sopoaga at first-five, so Bateman moves back into the pivot, where he started the season.
Otago have lost captain Paul Grant for the season, but are fashioning a nice record indoors. Both teams have semifinal spots wrapped up in their respective competitions, but are now wrestling for home advantage.
PRE-GAME
Otago: 1. Aki Seiuli, 2. Liam Coltman, 3. Hisa Sasagi, 4. Tom Franklin, 5. Rob Verbakel, 6. Lee Allen, 7. Hugh Blake, 8. Gareth Evans, 9. Fumiaki Tanaka, 10. Hayden Parker, 11. Buxton Popoali'i, 12. Glenn Dickson, 13. Jayden Spence, 14. Marshall Suckling, 15. Tony Ensor.
Reserves: 16. Shota Horie, 17. Jacob Ellison, 18. Justin Ives, 19. TJ Ioane, 20. Brad Weber, 21. Peter Breen, 22. Adam Hill.
Wellington: 1. Reg Goodes, 2. Dane Coles, 3. Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen, 4. Jeremy Thrush (c), 5. Ross Filipo, 6. Mark Reddish, 7. Ardie Savea, 8. Genesis Mamea, 9. Frae Wilson, 10. Lima Sopoaga, 11. Jason Woodward, 12. Shaun Treeby, 13. Tim Bateman, 14. Alipate Leiua, 15. Charlie Ngatai.
Reserves: 16. Motu Matu'u, 17. Whetu Henry, 18. Arden David-Perrot, 19. Kaipati Gaualofa, 20. Kayne Hammington, 21. Matt Proctor, 22. Scott Fuglistaller.
Referee: Keith Brown