Julian Savea steamrolls Bryn Gatland to score the match winning for Wellington

October 17, 2020
2109
Ultimate Rugby

The Bus is back it!

Former All Blacks winger Julian Savea stepped up to score the matching winning try for Wellington on Saturday as they fought back from an early 13-point deficit to beat North Harbour 25-20 at Sky Stadium.

After back to back losses, Wellington were dealt an early blow as Peter Umaga-Jensen was recalled to the All Blacks squad as cover for Rieko Ioane and things didn't get better from there as a Bryn Gatland penalty, try and a try from Jared Page saw them trail 0-13 after 30 minutes.

However, they managed to claw their way back into the match with Billy Proctor starting the comeback as he and Jackson Garden-Bachop dotted down before the break to make it a one-point game in North Harbour's favour.

A penalty from Garden-Bachop saw Wellington lead (15-13) for the first time in the match before North Harbour quickly regained the lead through Tomas Aoake with Bryn Gatland making it a five-point game from the tee.

Garden-Bachop slotted a penalty to make it 18-20 with an hour still to play. Five minutes later, Ruben Love stabbed a kick through for Julian Sevea to chase. The bus got to the ball first and shunted Gatland out of his way to score the crucial match-winner as Wellington ended their two-game losing streak.