Northland stun Wellington in rainy Porirua

Rivez Reihana helped the Northland Taniwha stun Wellington Lions 15-6 in Porirua this afternoon. Photo / Gettys

Northland embarrassed Wellington in their own patch with a herculean defensive effort to upset the Lions 15-6 in the Bunnings Warehouse NPC this afternoon.

It was a well-deserved victory for the men in Cambridge blue who hung in there under difficult conditions for their second win so far in the competition.

The Taniwha kept Wellington scoreless and the hosts would have been gutted replacement Ruben Love missed two penalties in the second spell and madde basic mistakes in key attacking areas.

Northland's relentless defence and continuous rain at Jerry Collins' Stadium in Porirua forced Wellington to make a mountain of handling errors while the inability of their star players to get quality front-foot ball for most of the match compounded their woes.

It all made for a horrible afternoon for the Lions stacked with Super Rugby players and two former All Blacks in Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder.

For Northland, the two tries they scored through Rob Rush and Josh Moorby on the stroke of half time put the side in good stead heading into the second half.

A stiff northerly helped Northland in the first half and while the lineout initially wobbled a bit, their set piece generally held up well as the game progressed against an experienced Lions' pack.

Debutant and All Black prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi, skipper Matt Moulds and centurion Ross Wright formed a powerful front row for Northland.

No 8 Sam McNamara provided a vital link from the boot of the scrum for the backs to hoof the ball in the right areas of the field and pin the hosts in their half.

Halfback Sam Nock was another stand out who was equally effective in attack and defence while another All Black, Jack Goodhue, had a decent run as he recovers from a knee injury.

Northland will now prepare for their second home game, against Southland, at Semenoff Stadium on August 28.