Fitness proves the key for Orcas

Wellington simply outlasted hosts Auckland 24-18 in their vital national championship game on Saturday – and for that they could thank coach Trevor Clark's day job.

Clark, an exercise physiologist at Massey University, put his provincial squad through a battery of fitness tests before finalising selection for the revamped competition and he believed that told late in the evenly-contested round two fixture.

Auckland had raced into a 16-0 lead inside the first 20 minutes, but the Orcas pegged them back to an 18-16 advantage at halftime.

In a physical dogfight on a heavy track at Cornwall Park, the second half was scoreless until nine minutes from time when winger Bernard Gregorius finished off a long-range move.

Then in the 79th minute, Wellington underlined the result when their other wing, Bureta Faraimo, picked up a ball spilled by Auckland centre Shaun Metcalf as he pushed towards the Wellington line, then sprinted 95 metres to score his third try of the game.

The 20-year-old Wainuiomata wing also scored three times in last weekend's opening round victory over Waicoa Bay at Fraser Park and Clark said he had deserved to win New Zealand Residents selection last year.

"I am rapt," said Clark. "We worked bloody hard for this one. One of the key criteria to make this side was they had to be fit ... they had to reach certain levels and they were put on notice that there were no easy rides into this side.

"I said to the guys that we had to hang on, even if we score in the last minute. The longer we hung on, the more confident we got. Auckland are always hard to beat."

Clark's men have to return north to play the other likely competition front-runners Counties-Manukau in what shapes as a crucial round five clash.

Wellington's under-17 team were also victorious, beating Auckland 30-24, but Wellington under-15 lost 24-18.

In other premier games, Counties-Manukau demolished Northern Swords 86-10 in Kaikohe yesterday while Waicoa Bay beat Heartland 36-18.

- © Fairfax NZ News