Last roars of Lions' Christian

By CHRIS RATTUE

Wellington must talk the talk when they take on Waikato in tonight's NPC semifinal in Hamilton.

With captain Tana Umaga and others such as Shane Carter missing, a certain quietness has descended over the Wellingtonians. Even the now-injured captain David Holwell took time to take charge.

It's not a problem an experienced Waikato outfit will face, especially with their ebullient leader Jono Gibbes around.

But it's a different matter for Wellington, who have lost a host of leading lights this year. And even some of their most experienced hands, such as Christian Cullen and another injury victim, Kupu Vanisi, are hardly known for shouting the odds from the treetops.

Wellington coach John Plumtree says: "The danger for us is if things don't go quite so well, they will go quiet. They go within themselves under pressure.

"It's something we've talked about. To a guy like Tana, it [talking] just comes naturally. He's got those qualities.

"We've certainly got quite a few reluctant leaders now, and we've missed David Holwell's leadership skills since he broke his jaw in the shield challenge.

"In fairness, everyone has taken their share of the leadership since he's gone, but they don't like to talk. When they do, they wonder if people are listening.

"You've got to start somewhere with these things, and hopefully the natural leaders will come out eventually."

It could be a major factor tonight. Semifinals can be a mind over matter. Heavy responsibility will rest on Jason Spice and Luke Andrews to talk Wellington into a good game.

Waikato, beaten finalists last year, must start as strong favourites, although coach Ian Foster claims that home advantage is not even a factor in semifinals - except that it makes preparation more convenient.

In Wellington's favour, Waikato have been disrupted by injuries. Foster remains unsure whether Regan King, Loki Crichton and Derek Maisey can play.

King and Maisey took no part in training this week, while goalkicker Crichton did limited work. Dwayne Sweeney and David Johnston are on standby.

"It's not ideal but it's still been a good week of preparation," Foster said.

"At this time of year, training is not so much physical. You are fine tuning and you can do that with low-impact training. But it would be nice to have a full contingent."

The disruptions led Foster into making an early decision to name David Hill at first five-eighths ahead of Maisey, to bring some solidity to proceedings. But Hill has been injury affected again this season and his goalkicking patchy.

Waikato are sure to target first five-eighths Riki Flutey, a maverick runner, although former All Black Paul Steinmetz can provide a guiding hand outside him.

But Foster claimed: "In some ways Riki Flutey offers a little bit more than Holwell. I don't think they lose anything.

"And most of us have had to deal with injuries and all sorts of things. That's part of the challenge of getting a squad through to this stage.

"Wellington have looked pretty tidy in the last two or three weeks and I think they actually look a bit more settled at this stage than they did in the first half of the season."

A Wellington strength is their athletic, ball-running forwards, especially in space, while Waikato should have an edge in the set pieces and in their forwards' ability to rumble the ball upfield in the tight.

But Waikato have struggled to find attacking rhythm and Foster pointed to the number of wet, night games as contributing to that. Injuries to backs have also been a major problem.

Cullen, Steinmetz and Spice are the only survivors from the last Wellington team to make the semifinals in 2000, when they won the title.

This could be Cullen's New Zealand farewell, after a career like no other.

To many of us, he is the greatest of all fullbacks. Rugby didn't get any better than Cullen in his prime.

In those great times, every chip kick, every bounce of the ball, seemed to go his way. And he hardly needed the help. His speed, upper-body strength and instincts formed a lethal combination. Cullen's powers may have dimmed, and his instincts become unfashionable in a game of high organisation. But the great Cullen will always survive in the memory.

Maybe he has a few final tricks up his sleeve. Whether he departs tonight or in a week's time, hopefully it will be in some style.

NPC points table