Making ground: Maia Fox of Uawa comes away with the ball in the East Coast club rugby final against TVC on Saturday. Pictures by Paul Rickard
Only two club finals in 100 years of East Coast rugby have ever gone into extra time — the 2017 and, now, 2021 editions.
And the passion, intensity and drama of the three finals between these 100-plus-minute epics notwithstanding, dark skies, furious winds and sheets of rain put 2021 in its own category: most manfully endured.
Uawa, back-to-back champions in 2018 and 2019, beat the only other team to win the Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield in extra time — Tihirau Victory Club — 11-8.
As then-TVC, now Tokararangi first-five Rapata kicked Cape Runaway's finest to their first title on a glorious day at Whakarua Park in Ruatoria four years ago, so did Uawa captain and halfback Sam Parkes land his season-defining penalty goal to end the second 10-minute period — from the left touch, 30 metres back, in unimaginable conditions — on fulltime.
TVC's 24-21 breakthrough championship thrilled a crowd of 3000 with skill and courage in a carnival atmosphere. Uawa's achievement at Te Kura Mana Maori o Whangaparaoa was a testament to The Awa's character, resolve and ability to bounce back, having been under the hammer.
And the devotion of the 600 hardy folk who roared for both sides throughout was as much a feature of the game as the service of referee Jackson Reuben-Swinton and his equally affable assistants, Eruera Kawhia and Matt Richards.
Ngati Porou East Coast head coach All Black No.1079 Hosea Gear was impressed: “That was an awesome final, considering the conditions. Both teams had to slog it out but that was really good rugby to watch. The last kick by Sam was the best I've seen.”
Parkes was named to the visitors' MVP (most valuable player), while TVC captain and openside flanker Mo Mato and No.8 Hoani Te Moana shared the home team's MVP award. Mato's quick incisive runs from the base of the ruck and on tap kicks for penalty, earned the hosts 80m on the day.
“In the first half, we didn't capitalise when we had the wind at our back,” the TVC skipper said.
“It was a forward-oriented game but still, everyone had a role to play, and the support for both sides kept us all going out there. It was a painful game to lose. Congratulations to Uawa.”
Parkes said: “The game was played with high intensity and you could feel there was a lot on the line the for the entire 100-plus minutes. Both teams played extremely well but my boys dug deep, as they have all season, and pulled it out when it counted.”
Mato won the toss and chose to play with the northerly wind, Parkes choosing to kick off. Parkes kicked off himself and intentionally hooked the first one short, to his left — in the hope that his chasers would regather the ball; an acknowledgement of the fact that both sides knew that the element of surprise and execution would trump forced flair alone.
In the 12th minute, TVC centre Tutere Waenga opened the scoring with a penalty goal from directly in front of the posts 41m back: the hosts led 3-0.
That remained the score to the 63rd minute, at which time Uawa first five-eighth Josh Dearden, from centreground at the 22, levelled the scores with a penalty goal for 3-3. That was the score after 80 minutes of regulation time.
Parkes won the second toss and chose to play into the wind. Where it had been merely wet and windy at the start of the game, and the second half began in worse conditions than that, it was diabolical throughout both periods of extra time. The weatherbomb predicted three days before dropped at Whangaparaoa, but the quality of play did not suffer for it.
The first try — when it came, at the bell to end the first extra-time period — may have no precedent in rugby.
Dearden took a penalty shot from the middle of the park, 16m back. He could barely look up to draw a bead, such were the elements conspiring against him.
He kicked the ball, which was then blown towards the right touch — and backwards. The ball dipped in front of an understandably shocked TVC left wing Ron-Paul McRoberts, into the arms of a semi-bewildered, scarcely-believing Uawa right wing George Sheild. In a millisecond, Sheild found his bearings to score seven metres in from the corner. There was no conversion — the score was 8-3 to Uawa, going into the second period of extra time.
In the 98th minute, TVC were awarded a penalty five metres from the visitors' goal-line in front of the posts. The infraction saw Uawa reduced to 14 men for the yellow card issued to their fullback BJ Sidney, and two surges later, TVC tighthead prop Hirini Delamere squirmed in to score for 8-8.
As with Dearden at the same end of the ground in what even then felt like a lifetime ago, Waenga missed a kick (in this case, a conversion attempt) that he would normally have made. The score was TVC 8, Uawa 8.
Things happened quickly from that point. Uawa restarted quickly, the restart curving towards the left touch. Parkes's men chased through, and referee Reuben-Swinton awarded the by-now desperate visitors the last penalty of the game.
Parkes decided to take the fateful shot, in the last act of valour on a day to make strong men sniffle and shake, knowing if that the scores were tied at the end of the second period of extra time, both teams would trudge into golden-point extra time.
Both sets of forwards performed heroically. Uawa's veteran loosehead prop John Mathias and their young charger, openside flanker Tanira Nepia, carried the ball with aplomb. For TVC, hooker Te Taawhi Takuira-Mita was indomitable and superb.
There were too many heroes to name, without accidentally slighting another player who had excelled, in the attempt.
Uawa won the final, and everyone who took in Radio Ngati Porou's livestream of the game (though they were treated in greater comfort to do so) would be grateful for that but those who would still play the game, might be dismayed to know that they were not there.
Hone Haerewa of Tokararangi — who raised the Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield aloft after his crew's 13-12 victory over TVC in 2020 and who has been named as captain of the Sky Blues again — had nothing but admiration for both teams.
The mightily respected openside flanker-No.8 and Heartland 15 forward said: “For Uawa to have come from where they did on the table and knock out two bigger opponents when it mattered most is a huge accomplishment. They peaked at the right time and had the hunger to go all the way: what an awesome season it's ended up being for their club.”
Outgoing Uawa chairman Darryl Crawford likes what he's seen from the big blue crew all-round.
“We're immensely proud of our Uawa team for their role-modelling, respect for our tamariki, rangitahi, care for our wahine, kuia and kaumatua,” said Crawford. “They help us build and foster our club culture, they're good men and as with the players in all of our clubs on the coast, they lead on and off the field in our community.”