Lions maul Taniwha in the capital

Northland skipper Jordan Olsen scored his team's only try in the 54-7 loss to Wellington. Photo / Michael Cunningham

It was men versus boys as the Wellington Lions proved too strong for Northland in the Bunnings Warehouse Cup in the capital this afternoon.

Missed tackles had been the visitor's archilles heel as the hosts ran rampant in the 54-7, eight tries to one win at Sky Stadium to get their NPC campaign on a flying note.

To add to Northland's woes, replacement No 10 Dan Hawkins was red carded with time nearly up after connecting an arm to the head of Xavier Numia.

Referee Tipene Cottrell blew for fulltime while Numia was being attended to with just seven seconds left on the clock.

Northland's sole try came from skipper Jordan Olsen in the 26th minute after turning down a penalty in favour of a lineout drive.

For Wellington, impressive blindside flanker Taine Plumtree, son of All Black assistant coach John Plumtree, scored a hat trick while Peter Umaga-Jensen, Alex Fidow, Julian Savea, Bruce Kauika-Petersen, and Brandyn Laursen also got on the scoresheet.

Northland's first home game is against Taranaki at Semenoff Stadium on August 15.