Wellington Lions have finally taken the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland after a massive 26-year drought.

Some Wellington teams would have faltered in the past, losing in the dying seconds, like that 31-29 defeat to Canterbury in 2001. However, this was a different Wellington outfit – I have never seen them play so convincingly as they ran out 27-0 winners.

It looked like the same old story in the first 15 minutes as Auckland dominated. Isea Toeava was amazing early on – his passing was fantastic, putting the ball into space, and his running game was brilliant, but he went on to make mistakes that cost Auckland the game. Wellington were too good not to pounce on those blunders and score some terrific tries.

The Wellington scrum was so solid that they blew the Aucklanders off the park. Their kicking game was also spot on, with Cory Jane chasing it and gathering the ball and then doing some wonderful offloads. Piri Weepu made all the difference through his outstanding leadership. He always knew just where to put the ball and when to run with it. And he got great support from a brilliant defence – their counter rucking at the breakdown was awesome.

This was a really dominant performance by Wellington – they played Auckland off the park in every area. It's good to see the shield change hands but in the next game Tasman will really be up for it – go Tasman.