Northland players celebrate the win during the Farah Palmer Cup Championship Final match. Photo / Getty Images
Northland players celebrate the win during the Farah Palmer Cup Championship Final match. Photo / Getty Images
Twenty-six years have passed since a Northland rugby team last got its hands on a championship title.
That dry spell was brought to a crashing end on Sunday when Northland Kauri toppled the Manawatu Cyclones 32-29 in the Farah Palmer Cup 2023 final.
Days later the enormity of the team’s win is still sinking in for Kauri prop Krystal Murray, whose play in the blue jersey and Black Fern uniform have made her a household name.
As the Kauri players prepared to go head-to-head with unbeaten hosts Manawatu, Murray said the mindset was focused on “representing who we are as a province and as a people”.
Their secret weapon? An unwavering belief that they could win - a faith supporters had too.
“We jumped a lot of hoops just to play,” Murray said, acknowledging the sacrifice players - many of whom are mums - had to make just to take the field in training and on match day.
“But there was nothing but the belief in ourselves. We knew we could go out there and get the job done.”
Krystal Murray on attack during the final. Photo / Getty Images
Murray found herself in the memorable position of bringing the match to a close. She was able to boot the ball into touch after Kauri successfully forced a scrum penalty off a Manawatu feed as time ran out.
“We knew we had to win that scrum to seal the win,” she said.
But there was never any doubt as the team’s forward pack has been dominating opposition all season.
“It was fitting for us to finish on a scrum,” Murray said. “It was awesome.”
The win was made extra special as a huge crowd had turned out for the match. At one point the commentator couldn’t work out if the booming cheers were Manawatu fans or the enormous cohort of Kauri supporters who had made the trip to Palmerston North. One Northland mega fan reportedly drove more than eight hours and through the night to support the women in blue.
“That is the reason we do what we do,” Murray said. “Our people are our why. The crowd - seeing them after the game reminds us that we aren’t the only ones making sacrifices.”
Northland fans show their support. Photo / Getty Images
She nodded to whānau, loved ones and babysitters who stepped in to help ensure Kauri players could focus on the season.
“We’ve all won.”
Murray believed their championship title, having broken the 26-year drought, would build on the support high-level women’s rugby has been demanding through standout performances provincially and internationally.
“There’s so much more interest now, and not just in females wanting to play but in sponsorship and supporting them.”
Murray said the pathway being carved for upcoming talent was a stark contrast to when she began her career in the Te Rarawa uniform on the humble fields of the Far North. To get ahead, female players often had to head south for better exposure and scope.
“We never even had Northland in the Farah Palmer Cup until five years ago. We were the newest team in 2019 but we’ve grown and grown in that time.
“Now, we just want to make sure our girls know that there are options to make it in rugby in Northland.”
NRU chief executive Cameron Bell described how the future of women’s rugby in the region was packed with rising stars, starting at the lower age groups.
He acknowledged Kauri first-five Tara Turner, who has been named in the Black Ferns first XV squad, as a trailblazer. Murray and Charmaine Smith continue their inspirational run by making the Black Ferns squad, competing in the O’Reilly Cup and WXV Tournament.
“What the Kauri have done for women’s rugby is to cement the growth that was already there ... they are all showing the way,” Bell said.
“It says to any athlete, that there is a strong pathway to Olympic 7s or the Black Ferns.”
