Forbes grabbed a try in the 25th minute, and the halftime score was 27-0.
Gisborne Boys' High played with spirit throughout and fought hard in defence against the immensely powerful loosehead prop Toby Taylor, among others. Taylor ran in bullocking style to great effect.
TBC reserve hooker Jack Anderson grabbed the first try of his double in the 41st minute (try No.2 came in the 68th), with Dew converting his own own try in the 60th minute. Dew's try was the hardest pill to swallow from a GBHS standpoint. The visitors had won turnover ball midfield, 15 metres into enemy territory. Gisborne vice-captain and lock Max Briant found openside flanker Dylan Bronlund to his left, but the fetcher's quick shift was intercepted by Dew, the TBC fullback then haring 65m to score. Tauranga's MVP (most valuable player), second five-eighth Matt Stewart, scored in the 63rd minute of his “cap” (15th) game.
Both the lively Bronlund (37th minute) and his teammate, big loosehead prop Hayze Nepia (54th minute), were issued yellow cards by Rotorua-based Bay of Plenty referee Nico Blank, who impressed with his clarity and control.
No.8 Nik Patumaka and the Gisborne backs ran straight and hard, but rarely did they work phase upon phase. What first-five Karlos Howe, second-five Josh Whyte, wingers Paraina Davies, Siope Fakahokotau and fullback Izaiah Fox did do bravely for GBHS was scramble in defence. The hosts asked hard questions — especially with the boot — and a depleted Gisborne team put out every fire they could.
Tauranga took tightheads against Gisborne at scrum-time — Hauiti and company returned the compliment. Such was also the case at the lineout.
Gisborne, with one competition point, were placed eighth and Tauranga — who beat four-time defending Super 8 champions Hamilton BHS 13-12 in Round 5 — jumped two places to finish fourth with three wins, on the weekend's result.
With their third win of this Super 8, TBC are now tied with GBHS on 12 wins apiece head-to-head since the competition began in 1998.
Before Saturday, TBC's biggest score and margin of victory against GBHS was 52-0 in 1989. From the trials at School Park on March 3, through the Kia Tu camp at St Paul's Collegiate School to the Pathway where Courage knows no Defeat and the course of a 14-game season, the Hauiti-led first 15 dedicated the past six months to flying the flag for GBHS rugby.
Ben Phelps (openside flanker), King Maxwell (first-five-cum-fullback) and Carlos Hihi (fullback-cum-first-five) are players of promise who were lost to Gisborne through injury.
The closest Gisborne came to victory this season was the 21-22 loss to Scots College on Porirua Park's No.2 ground on May 15, in Game 6 of a season which began away against Lindisfarne College (a 44-6 loss) on April 1. Kelston BHS won the season's first hit-out at the Rectory 71-6 on April 10 and four-time defending Super 8 champions Hamilton BHS beat their hosts 50-0 here on July 31 in the last home game of the season.
TBC's head coach Aidan Kuka took over from former Poverty Bay man and another ex-Bay of Plenty Steamers forward Dan Goodwin in 2021, and he was struck by the visitors' commitment to their cause.
“This is my first year at this level but I know that Gisborne have a very proud rugby history steeped in tradition and when I hear that team spoken of, I think of pride, passion and mana,” said the man whose side achieved their season goal of making the Super 8 top four on a bonus-point try.
“Of their individual forwards, Nathaniel impressed me in that he led by example. Max put a lot of heat on our lineout — made some crunching tackles as well — and Dylan was busy: he never gave up on the chase.
“As far as backs go, Kyran Russell's a sharp No.9 and has a good pass on him. Uetaha Wanoa ran hard every time he got the ball at centre.
“Our boys were determined to put together a performance they could be proud of and this game was our best team performance of the season.”
TBC old boy and former staff member, now GBHS principal Andrew Turner, saw Tapsell's crew fight to the last: “I was super proud of the team. We played a very good outfit — our school motto of ‘courage knows no defeat' was certainly put to the test — and these lads never gave up.”
Head coach Tapsell said it had been a tough season.
“Our boys gave it everything they had to give, which is what we asked of them.”
Although injury ruled him out of playing against Hamilton and Tauranga, Carlos Hihi regards having played for GBHS with his brother Puna as a highlight of this challenging season.
“To play for GBHS was an honour because my dad Duane and my ‘uncles' (Carlos's four godfathers — Richard Brown, Nathan Te Miha, Moko Irwin and Dennis Taute — and Puna's godfather, Tipi Babbingon) wore the jersey before my brother and me. We're mindful of and uphold that legacy.”
Hauiti and Briant, too, have their take on 2021. The captain's abiding memory of the season is the first 10-minute period of the game against Hastings — the hammering Hauiti's team took from Akina with pride in the line, the knowledge that the GBHS supporters saw them tough the storm from the Super 8's unbeaten side out together.
Briant, who came from Campion College to Boys' High in 2020, said: “I like to look back at the names of people who played in the GBHS jersey before me: despite our results this season, I've loved every second I wore it.
“It was a privilege, because my goal — our goal — and we tried our hardest to achieve it, was always to leave the jersey in a better state than we found it.”
