SEASON: PERFECT

TO THE VICTORS, THE SHIELD: Tokararangi trio (from left) Hone Haerewa, Dyllyn Evans and Sonny Campbell enjoy a moment with the Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield. Pictures by Te Rangimarie Rautjoki

RUGBY

Tokararangi completed their perfect seven-game season in front of at least 100 adoring fans on Saturday.

Te Araroa Domain was a joyful mishmash of red and black as the hosts beat Tihirau Victory Club 13-12 in the 2020 Enterprise Cars Ngati Porou East Coast club rugby final.

New Zealand Rugby patron Ian Kirkpatrick, attending his first East Coast final, said the turnout and atmosphere highlighed support for the community game. He congratulated the NPEC union and volunteers who made such memorable days possible.

Kirkpatrick and his fellow All Black, former Coast rep Andy Jefferd, were impressed by the high standard of play.

Jefferd said: “The defence from Tokararangi and TVC was outstanding. Both sides threw the ball around. The players enjoyed it, and the crowd enjoyed a magnificent spectacle in front of some of the best and most loyal rugby supporters in the world.”

The Tokararangi captain, openside flanker Hone Haerewa, hoisted the Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield aloft at home, as Uawa skipper Scott Lasenby had done in the previous two seasons. TVC openside flanker Moana Mato held it up at Whakarua Park, Ruatoria, in 2017.

Mato said: “Tokararangi played awesome rugby. There was one point in it and they deserved their win: for us, it was a privilege again to put the TVC jersey on in a great final like that, in which both sides cancelled each other out.”

Haerewa, who strained his right hamstring in the 1 v 4, 34-12 win against Hicks Bay the weekend before, on Saturday led his outfit superbly.

“I’m proud of the boys — it was a nerve-racking game to play in, but their hard work throughout the year paid off and we’re happy we got the result,” Haerewa said.

“In the end, the small things such as keeping our composure in pressure situations made the difference.”

Haerewa praised hardworking reserve lock Dyllyn Evans and Tokararangi’s other patriots off the bench, who the captain said “played a big part, had a huge role, knew they had to lift the boys — and did”.

TVC captain Mato won the toss on a sunny, fresh day, opting to play with the slight nor’westerly breeze known to locals as Hau parera. Tokararangi first five-eighth Rapata Haerewa kicked off into the wind from the eastern end of the Domain.

One of the features of the match was the lineout battle — Mo Mato and 6ft 5in lock Manaia Nyman of TVC versus Hone Haerewa and 6ft 7in second-rower Kyah Hollis for Tokararangi. All four were heavily involved in all parts of play, as was the TVC player of the day, rake Tuterangi Te Moana.

As in the 20-10 win against second-placed Uawa (2 v 3) the previous weekend, Te Moana did his core work at set-piece and in the tight, and made his presence felt with ball in hand.

The Tokararangi player-coach, reserve blindside flanker Israel Brown, made his club’s player of the day an award to the entire squad.

Both sides played positively, with admirable discipline, and the third team on the field — referee Matt Richards assistant referee 1 Eruera Kawhia and AR2 Jackson Reuben-Swinton — worked well to see the game run smoothly.

Right-footer Rapata Haerewa opened the scoring 10 minutes into the match, with a penalty goal 22 metres from — and directly in front of — TVC’s posts for 3-0.

In the 16th minute came the most hair-raising (and for TVC, terrifying) moment of the season. Tokararangi were awarded a penalty 10m from TVC’s posts — again, in front. Haerewa took a kick at goal: the ball hit the crossbar and bounced back to him, he went right to blindside flanker Alec Poi and on to right wing Mohi Bartlett, who was brought down one metre from the corner.

TVC breathed deeply.

Tighthead prop Clendon Wikaire struck for TVC in the 32nd minute. Powerful lock Manaia Nyman won an attacking lineout on Tokararangi’s 22, right side, and over eight phases, the visitors worked from right to left, then to the right of the ground once more before right wing Peti Delamere was pulled down just short of the goal-line seven metres in from the corner. Tighthead prop Clendon Wikaire went three metres to the left of the ruck that followed, got to ground and referee Richards, having spoken to in-goal referee David Newton and AR1 Kawhia, awarded TVC their first try.

The halftime score was 5-3 to TVC.

Two key factors greatly assisted Tokararangi in keeping a handle on things without ever totally dominating the match.

Firstly, the tactical kicking game of Rapata Haerewa — as was the case against Hicks Bay — was excellent. He rarely overkicked and his ability to find space kept TVC watchful.

Secondly, they kept close tabs on Verdon Bartlett, who to this day is capable of giving good defenders the slip or at the very least slipping a great short ball to his teammates. He also has the full range of short-kicking options. Bartlett has never been a flashy player but his game-sense and timing, coupled with experience, are second to none.

Five minutes after the resumption, Richards awarded TVC a penalty on attack five metres from the hosts’ goal-line, nine metres to the left of the posts. The visitors’ always-dangerous Bartlett took the tap-kick and found Nyman’s fellow lock Kawana Waititi on the charge. Reserve anchor Hirini Delamere scored off the subsequent pick-and-go play for 10-3, made 12-3 by reserve right wing Benny Haerewa’s conversion.

In the 51st minute, Tokararangi received a penalty 34m out, two metres to the left of the posts. Rapata Haerewa landed the goal to close it to 12-6.

Even at that early stage, he may have sensed that bigger kicks were yet to be taken.

That match-determining moment arrived in the 75th minute, TVC reserve lock Solomon Vaka having been shown the yellow card in defence of his goal-line 60 seconds before.

With 14 men on the field and Tokararangi pressing close to the left corner over five phases, TVC were given a penalty and found touch on the right side 20m out from their line. Mato won the ensuing lineout, halfback Keegan Rowley went left and Tutere Waenga at first receiver put up a midfield bomb.

Tokararangi titan reserve No.8 Riki Waitoa took the catch and to his right found fullback Whakarae Henare with sleight of hand coming back against the tide. Henare ran 38m before being hit as if by a hammer — Bartlett — two metres out from the goal-line, two metres to the right of the posts. Hone Haerewa then retained the ball in contact and Waitoa, incredibly, was on hand short side as the link in the chain between halfback Te Aho Haenga and big left wing Teina Potae. Potae scored in the corner and Rapata Haerewa — six metres infield, 23m out — converted Potae’s try for 13-12.

Tokararangi held out to win the iconic Memorial Shield for the first time since their 14-5 win against Hicks Bay in the 2015 final at Te Araroa remembered — with feeling — as “mud and more mud”. On Saturday, the Domain retained its immaculate condition throughout.

Tokararangi and TVC made this all-Matakaoa duel the equal of any seen in the Coast’s rugby showpiece. It was the fifth consecutive final with only four points separating the teams.

Runners-up TVC, who had nipped at the heels of Uawa in the past two years, ended the season with a record of five wins from seven games.

NPEC chief executive Cushla Tangaere-Manuel was delighted at how smoothly the final had run as an event.

“On behalf of the union, I’d like to commend the home team, Tokararangi, for how well they hosted everyone on Saturday under Covid-19 Alert Level 2 restrictions, how they provided for whanau (family), including distribution of limited tickets and separate monitored entrances.”

Tokararangi player-coach Brown, TVC’s Mato and Whetu Haerewa, deserve credit for their teams’ good conduct on the field, mirrored by the festive atmosphere among all supporters off the field.