Canterbury v Wellington
Christchurch, 7.35 tonight
A Wellington pack that has bonded well since a mid-season revamp could be the ambush factor in tonight's rugby final against Canterbury, says sidelined Lions lock Jeremy Thrush.
When they met in the fifth round, Canterbury romped home with the Ranfurly Shield by thumping an out-of-sorts Wellington 36-14.
That game ended Thrush's season, when he dislocated his left shoulder .
An alarming collapse in Wellington's locking stocks followed his departure with Api Naikatini, Chris Middleton and Mark Reddish all casualties.
Staring at an empty cupboard, coach Jamie Joseph pushed skipper Jacob Ellison from prop to lock to partner former Southlander Daniel Ramsay, a band-aid move that proved a canny one as Wellington progressed to the final. It forced the side to be innovative with their lineouts and rebuild the scrum.
"We lost three locks in three weeks and I think the boys have done really well in the circumstances," said Thrush. "We haven't been lifting Jacob too much but with [loose forward] Victor Vito as a jumping option, the lineouts have been pretty good.
"The boys have stuck together and dug in and thought of new ways to win lineout ball and it has come off."
Canterbury's rangy tall timber of Isaac Ross and Sam Whitehouse were a force, but Wellington had dealt with players like them with other teams such as Southland.
Thrush spared no blushes in describing Wellington's scrum in the shield defeat: "Last time we played Canterbury, our scrum went to the dogs."
However, the rebuilt first-choice front row of John Schwalger, Ged Robinson and Anthony Perenise had been going well since and had become an attacking force.
"Canterbury are also missing some of their big names in the front [away with the All Blacks] and we have still got some big boys and hard workers in our team as well. It's going to be a good challenge there."
The key for Wellington would be in game smarts. "We just have do what we have been doing in the last four or five weeks - just front up being smart with lineout options, have a bit more focus on the scrum for attacking ball.
"We have to hit the rucks hard and enforce our full pack on the game. We have got to look after our ball, that's pretty obvious, but when we do get turnover ball we have to be smart about where we look to attack."
Joseph has resisted the temptation to tinker with the side who beat Southland 34-21 in last weekend's semifinal.
With No 8 Mathew Laumanu having a calf niggle, he must have thought about moving Vito to the back of the scrum and partner Scott Fuglistaller at No 6 alongside Serge Lilo at No 7.
"When you get to finals rugby, all scenarios start flying up," Joseph said.
"You look at Canterbury, who are a different opposition to Southland, and you think, 'How are we going to take care of them?' At the end of the day we just thought, 'We'll do what we've got to do,' so we came back to where we started - that the team that played last week played really well."
With just nine players in the squad backing up in the rematch of last year's final, which Canterbury won 7-6, Joseph said Wellington's preparations had to change tack this year.
"I've changed because the players have changed ... that's put a different scope on things.
"Last year we had a dozen or so All Blacks, this year we've got a dozen or so babies so it's a different approach.
"Certainly the Ranfurly Shield game was a really poor performance for our team. But we talked about that. Firing shots or not ... I think we will be fine. Whether it's enough to beat such a good side like Canterbury we'll all know on Saturday night."
CANTERBURY v WELLINGTON
Canterbury
Colin Slade
Sean Maitland
Casey Laulala
Tim Bateman
T. Umaga-Marshall
Stephen Brett
Tyson Keats
Nasi Manu
G. Whitelock (c)
Michael Paterson
Isaac Ross
Samuel Whitelock
Peter Borlase
Ti'i Paulo
A. Olorenshaw
Reserves: Steve Fualau, Rodney Ah You, Ash Parker, Matt Todd, Willi Heinz, Ryan Crotty, James Paterson.
Wellington
Apoua Stewart
David Smith
Alapati Leuia
Shaun Treeby
Hosea Gear
Piri Weepu
Alby Mathewson
Mathew Luamanu
Serge Lilo
Victor Vito
Daniel Ramsay
Jacob Ellison (c)
Anthony Perenise
Ged Robinson
John Schwalger
Reserves: Dane Coles, Arden David-Perrot, Mark Reddish, Scott Fuglistaller, Fa'atonu Fili, Robert Fruean, Daniel Kirkpatrick.
- NZPA
