League: Stallions succumb after final surprise

The Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions lost the Pirtek National Premiership grand final 40-8 against Canterbury on Saturday. Pictured is Wai-Coa-Bay player Shaquille Jakeman. Photo / Andrew Warner

The Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions have finished runners-up to the Canterbury Bulls after being gifted a spot in the national grand final.

The Stallions finished fourth during the Pirtek National Premiership regular season but were handed a spot in the grand final on Saturday at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.

The top two teams on the table, Counties Manukau and Akarana, were disqualified from playing in the final due to fielding ineligible players during the season.

Unfortunately, the fairy tale came to an end for the Stallions when they ran into a solid Canterbury side, who won the final convincingly, 40-8.

The wet conditions and lack of match preparation counted against the Stallions, who played their last regular season match on September 28 in Rotorua.

Still, captain Hayden Karena said they were stoked to have had the opportunity.

"Yeah, we are really appreciative of everything that comes to us," he said.

"We were always confident, it was just a matter of getting out the cobwebs and the conditions did not really help either."

The Stallions players found out on Thursday night they were in the final, and fortunately had already planned to get together on Saturday for their prize giving.

The Stallions are made up of players from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Coastline regions, with plenty of players from the Rotorua, Taupo, Mangakino and Tokoroa area.

The grand final got off to a slow start on Saturday as both teams struggled to hold on to the ball in the wet conditions.

The Bulls were the first to build any real pressure, and Erwin Sauni scored the opening try for the South Islanders after breaking a soft tackle close to the tryline.

He was in again a few minutes later after a kick bounced off a defender and into his hands.

The penalty count really hurt the Stallions as the match progressed, and the Bulls made the most of one penalty when centre Bruce Havea went over to score.

Rotorua's Riki Collier finally sparked the Stallions into life when he forced a turnover with a solid tackle, and Taupo's John Koko set up Isaac Robinson for a try in the corner.

Koko scored a great individual try a few minutes later, to reduce the margin, but that was all the Stallions could muster.

Canterbury ran away with the game with one more try in the first half and three in the second, led by man of the match Toi Sepuloni.

Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions 8 (Isaac Robinson, John Koko tries). Canterbury Bulls 40 (Erwin Sauni 2, Bruce Havea, Ken Tofilau, Toi Sepuloni, Cyrus Timo-Latu, Manu Weepu tries; Toi Sepuloni 6 con). HT: 8-24.