Wellington Seconds had no league match on Saturday and their third string appeared to have been considerably strengthened.

After ten minutes, one of their props reported a neck and shoulder injury and it was uncontested scrums for the rest of the game. However, puzzlingly, he switched to No 8 and had a tremendous game both in attack and defence.

The visitors made the better start and scored an unconverted try. Then Pethy dominated, without being able to break down the defence and two penalty goals put Wellington 11-0 ahead.

Wing Lloyd Steward scored a try in the corner after great handling involving some of the home forwards, but great tackling, particularly by the Wellington full-back on the usually-unstoppable Wayne Pither, kept the score 11-5 at half time.

Although Pethy dominated the second half, Wellington scored a converted breakaway try to stretch their lead. The home side continued to batter at the defence and with 15 minutes left, Pither finally broke through to make it 18-10.

Five minutes later, fly-half Mark Sutherland-Earl, who otherwise had an excellent game, missed a penalty he would normally have landed. It was not until the last move of the match that Pethy skipper and second row Larry Steward went over under the posts for Sutherland-Earl to convert. The final whistle blew immediately.

Steward and Pither were outstanding in a dominant display by the home pack, for whom hooker Nick Pocock was prominent in the loose. It was a great team performance, despite the result.

H/T: 5-11

Tries: Lloyd Steward, Pither, Larry Steward

Cons: Sutherland-Earl

Pens:

Drop Goals:

Team: 15. Walford, 14. Lloyd Steward, 13. D.Steward, 12. Green, 11. Powell, 10. Sutherland-Earl, 9. Kirk, 1.Frost (Rep. Jennings, 60), 2. Pocock, 3. Webber (Rep. Kingston, 55), 4. Pither, 5. Larry Steward, 6. Stevens, 7. Gray, 8. Harris.