The defining moment of Wellington Rugby's 2008 season came on 20 September when the Vodafone Wellington Lions lifted the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland, 26 years and two days after they had lost it to Canterbury and after 10 subsequent unsuccessful challenges.
Winning the Ranfurly Shield was the major highlight of a year in which both professional teams, the Hurricanes and the Vodafone Wellington Lions, promised much but ultimately fell short of winning any silverware in the Rebel Sport Super 14 or Air New Zealand Cup competitions.
The Hurricanes finished a creditable fourth in the Super 14, making the play-offs for the fourth time in six years. But once more they were eliminated at the semi-final phase, and once again to the Crusaders, who in turn went on to beat the Waratahs in the final.
The 27-0 Ranfurly Shield victory at Eden Park was the highpoint of an outstanding run to the final for the Vodafone Wellington Lions, in which they ended the 10-week regular season as the top qualifier for the play-offs. This was the first time since 1986 that a Wellington team had won each of its first nine matches in a season.
Highlights at Westpac Stadium included a 30-6 win over Hawke's Bay, 64-7 over Counties-Manukau, 48-12 over Bay of Plenty, 45-33 over Waikato and 26-20 over Tasman, the latter a close-run Ranfurly Shield defence.
These round-robin games were followed by home victories over Taranaki (50-30) in the quarterfinal and Southland in the semifinal (28-19) to set up a home final against Canterbury. The Lions had their chances in the final, making much of the play in difficult conditions, but in the end it was a 25th minute try to Canterbury and their steadfast defence which prevailed to give the visitors a 7-6 win.
Overall the Lions, under a new coaching team of Jamie Joseph and Andre Bell, ended the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup season with a record of 11 wins and two losses from 13 matches. This is the most wins in a single season by a Wellington side, surpassing the 10 victories in 1986.
They ended the season as the best attacking team of the competition, scoring a record 65 tries. Left wing Hosea Gear's 14 championship tries broke Bernie Fraser's 1981 Wellington record for the most tries in a season, while fullback Cory Jane scored six tries and halfback/first five-eighth Piri Weepu notched 78 points.
Wellington's success was reflected in the selection of nine of the squad to tour Hong Kong and Europe with the All Blacks at the end of the year, with three players - Hosea Gear, Cory Jane and Alby Mathewson - making their All Blacks debuts on that tour. Additionally, John Schwalger played in the June test in Wellington against Ireland, bringing the total of 2008 Wellington All Blacks to 10.
Also of note was the high representation of Wellington players in New Zealand representative teams, with seven playing for the New Zealand Maori and several more playing for the New Zealand U20, and Sevens sides. Daniel Kirkpatrick was voted the Player of the Tournament at the IRB U20 World Cup in Wales in June and Victor Vito took the Sevens world by storm at the NZI Sevens at Westpac Stadium in February.
2008 was once again a mixed bag for the WRFU's amateur representative teams, the Wellington B team emerging as the best performed WRFU side outside the Lions, winning all six of their round-robin pool games to qualify for a home semi-final against Canterbury, which they unfortunately lost.
The 2008 Jubilee Cup was shared for the first time since 1982. Nothing could separate Marist St Pat's and Northern United in the final at Westpac Stadium, played in bitterly cold conditions and at the end of 80 minutes of rugby the scores were locked at 10-10.
For MSP it was their 12th Jubilee Cup win since their first in 1978 and their first since 2002, while Norths got their name engraved on the silverware for the third time after previous wins in 2004 and 2006.
Earlier in the season, Marist St Pat's won all of their final ten games in the first round to capture the Swindale Shield. Their Shield win was their 12th overall since their first in 1977 and also their first since 2000.
The Hardham Cup was won by Tawa who beat Wainuiomata 33-20 in the final.
The Johnsonville women's team beat Norths to win the first round Fleurs Trophy and Norths then beat Old Boys-University 15-8 to take out the second round title.
The Vodafone Wellington Lions was named Team of the Year at the end of season Tui Awards Dinner, Jamie Joseph was Coach of the Year and Hosea Gear was Player of the Year. Hurricanes hooker Andrew Hore was New Zealand Rebel Sport Super 14 Player of the Year and Piri Weepu was New Zealand Maori Player of the Year.
The downturn in the economy and an increase in the depreciation levels associated with the training base in Newtown contributed to an overall deficit of $9,731 for the year.
Vodafone Wellington Lions Match Record 2008:
Played: 16, Won: 13, Lost: 3
Points For 507, Points Against 252