You don’t want to be at home for these games!

The Wellington Lions are heading into a Bunnings Warehouse NPC semi-final showdown with Hawke’s Bay this Saturday, after overcoming Waikato 32-28 last Saturday.

The Lions ended up victorious on the day, but it didn’t come without a scare as they had to defend their line for five straight minutes against a determined Mooloo’s side who put together 38 phases but couldn’t breach the Lions staunch defence.

Asked what it was like in the coaching box during that last five minutes, Lions Head Coach Tamati Ellison quipped that he got up and left.

“No, I left the coaching box, I couldn’t watch it, I went straight to the locker,” laughed Tamati.

“No, massive care from the boys. The effort and attitude at the end to defend our line with the game on the line is huge, and we look forward to doing it again this week.

“Defence is massive for us. For us it’s about protecting our whare, protecting our people, so we’ll try and do it for as long as we must and if it’s 48 phases this week, so be it. But I was super proud of the efforts, especially the guys who had already played 80mins.”

Tamati had a final message for Lions fans, to come to Sky Stadium on Saturday night and support the boys as they look to continue their march towards the NPC final.

“We need you! It’s a massive game for us. Obviously, we’ve got Hawke’s Bay again, so the more people we can have in the crowd the better it is. The boys feel it, they love the energy and it’ll get us through to the next round.

Wellington Lions v Hawke’s Bay

Date: Saturday, 14 October

Venue: Sky Stadium

Kick-off: 7.05pm

Gates open: 6.00pm

Tickets: https://wellingtonlions.flicket.co.nz/