A last-gasp penalty from Wellington fly-half Jackson Garden-Bachop secured his side a narrow 27-24 victory over Otago at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.
Wellington consolidated their position at the top of the Mitre 10 Cup Championship 16 points ahead of Otago and Manawatu on 21 points with Northland fourth on 20.
Prop Alex Fidow brought the game to life after he ran the perfect angle off first receiver Garden-Bachop to dot down
The next try came in the 26th minute courtesy of Ben Lam who had a free run to the line after scrum-half Kemara Hauiti-Parapara set him up.
Soon after, Otago responded with a try when Michael Ruru did well to pounce after the ball had run loose after good combination play between him and Latu Vaeno.
Lam then grabbed his brace after charging down a Ruru kick before showing good speed to race clear, collect and dot down.
Julian Savea extended the lead but Vilimoni Koroi hit back showing blistering speed to cross the whitewash to level the scores.
But Garden-Bachop broke Otago hearts from the tee late on to snatch a 27-24 victory from under the noses of the opposition.
The scorers:
For Wellington:
Tries: Lam 2, Fidow, Savea
Cons: Garden-Bachop 2
Pen: Garden-Bachop
For Otago:
Tries: Ruru, Koroi
Con: Smith
Pens: Smith 4
The teams:
Wellington: 15 Trent Renata, 14 Julian Savea (c), 13 Thomas Umaga-Jensen, 12 Regan Verney, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 9 Kemara Hauiti-Parapara, 8 Galu Taufale, 7 Du'Plessis Kirifi, 6 Mateaki Kafatolu, 5 Will Mangos, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Alex Fidow, 2 Leni Apisai, 1 Tolu Fahamokioa
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Sitiveni Paongo, 18 Joe Apikotoa, 19 Chris Middleton, 20 Teariki Ben-Nicholas, 21 Sheridan Rangihuna, 22 Billy Proctor, 23 Losi Filipo
Otago: 15 Fletcher Smith, 14 Mitchell Scott, 13 Patelesio Tomkinson, 12 Teihorangi Walden, 11 Jona Nareki, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Josh Renton, 8 Sione Teu, 7 James Lentjes, 6 Adam Knight, 5 Blair Tweed, 4 Josh Furno, 3 Donald Brighouse, 2 Sam Anderson-Heather, 1 Aki Seiuli
Replacements: 16 Sekonaia Pole, 17 Craig Millar, 18 Hisa Sasagi, 19 Tom Rowe, 20 Slade McDowall, 21 Jonathan Ruru, 22 Leroy van Dam, 23 Vilimoni Koroi
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