The Bay of Plenty Steamers celebrate claiming the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final

Bay of Plenty celebrate with the Championship Trophy in the dressing room following the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final against Hawke's Bay. Photo / Getty Images

"Rugby football is our game, Bay of Plenty is our name,
We're the pride of all provincial rugby teams,
Yes that blue and yellow team, is the show that must be seen,
and it's plight is like the flight of a bumble bee.

Pass it here, pass it there, we're going to pass it everywhere.
We are the greatest showmen of them all, we don't hold that ball too long,
We just pass it right along,
Play the game Bay of Plenty, play the game, Anō,
Play the game Bay of Plenty, play the game."
The Bay of Plenty Steamers' victory song echoes through the belly of Rotorua International Stadium. The changing room is splattered with champagne and beer. The pressure is off, the battle is over. They've done it.

The Steamers' 12-7 win over Hawke's Bay in the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final on Friday night was hard-fought and went down to the wire. The visitors scored the only try of the match but four penalties to Steamers first five Dan Hollinshead were enough to get the men in blue and yellow across the line.

The final was in stark contrast to the rest of the season in which the Steamers ran rampant, producing scintillating rugby and demolishing every hurdle put in front of them. For much of the season they certainly lived up to the line; "We are the greatest showmen of them all".

After the final you could feel the energy coming from the players, equal parts excitement and relief, as they celebrated with their loved ones inside the changing rooms. The coaches hung at the back, letting the players have their moment, that is until another song broke out; "There's only one Mike Delany, there's only one Mike Delany", an ode to the assistant coach and former teammate of much of the squad.

The Bay of Plenty Steamers have won the Mitre 10 Cup Championship. Photo / Getty Images

There have been plenty of opportunities for the Steamers to get carried away this season - a 50-7 win over Otago in their first match, a 51-24 hammering of Hawke's Bay in round eight and a near perfect 64-3 win over Manawatu in the semifinal to name a few - but they never got ahead of themselves.

Much of the reasoning behind that is the way the team has been led by their always cool and calm head coach Clayton McMillan. Always full of reason and willing to put things in perspective, he never gives much away but on Friday night he could not help but smile from ear to ear.

"I'm really stoked for the guys because I know how hard they've worked. We've had a few up and down years but we always felt this year was going to be our year and I'm glad that they got the job done.

Bay of Plenty Steamers players celebrate at fulltime in the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final. Photo / Getty Images

"I thought it was a great battle, we knew that Hawke's Bay were going to be hurting [after the loss in the round robin] and that they'd come with something today. They certainly didn't let us down," McMillan said.

The old cliche 'defence wins titles' could not have been more true on Friday. In the dying minutes the Steamers held out Hawke's Bay for upwards of 25 phases on their own line.

"People will probably be a little bit disappointed that they didn't get to see us play the sort of razzly style that we've played with but we weren't allowed to because they attacked our breakdown, they affected our flow and that's finals footy.

"That's what I'm most proud of, when we didn't get to play our normal game we were still able to grind it out. We've said all year that defence defines our true character and we've had a great year. The guys get on well together and obviously play well - that true character got pushed to the absolute limit in the last five minutes and the boys stood resolute, they were disciplined, waited for the opportunity and got the penalty.

"I couldn't be happier."

Bay of Plenty celebrate with the Championship Trophy in the dressing room following the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final against Hawke's Bay. Photo / Getty Images

Steamers captain Aidan Ross was a little lost for words after the match, still coming to terms with what he and his teammates had achieved, but he too could not wipe the smile from his face.

"To be honest it hasn't really kicked in just yet, I'm sure we'll park up these next couple of days and reflect on what we've done this season, the style of footy we've played. We've put smiles on plenty of faces that show up every week so I'm just proud to give the fans of Bay of Plenty a smile back on their face.

"It's the old saying that defence wins championships and it's the first time all year we haven't scored a try in a game. That shows what pressure does to you come finals footy and what a physical game it was.

"The crowd was awesome, whether we're at the Tauranga Domain or Rotorua it's just awesome to have them turn up week in, week out. I haven't seen a crowd this big for a while, I love it when they come out."