Halfback's switch pays off

Ofisa Tonu'u in Ponies colours last year. Tomorrow he turns out for Waitakere City. Picture / Fotopress

A year ago, almost to the day, Ofisa Tonu'u proudly held aloft the Gallaher Shield after Ponsonby won the Auckland Premier One championship.

The former All Black halfback had been a key member of Ponsonby and had captained the side at various stages of the season.

Tomorrow, Tonu'u will lead Waitakere City on to Eden Park to do battle with his old club in this year's Gallaher Shield final.

He has been an inspirational leader of Waitakere City this season, captaining the premier one side from halfback and assisting head coach Pati Maligi as the back coach.

The West Auckland club, who are now based at their luxurious new headquarters at Trusts Stadium, have come a long way since early last season when they were not even ranked among Auckland's top 10 clubs and were playing in the Premier Two competition.

Now, after edging out University by the closest possible margin in last Saturday's semifinal, they are playing in a Gallaher Shield final for the first time.

Tonu'u parted from Ponsonby with no hard feelings on either side.

"Junior wanted to get into coaching, but we couldn't accommodate him because we had made all our coaching appointments for the 2005 season," said Ponsonby's director of rugby, Bryan Williams.

"He went to Waitakere City with our blessing and we are very proud of what he has achieved. Junior is a real asset to any team. He is a superb reader of the game and knows what it takes to win."

Ponsonby will go into the final a firm favourite. They have twice beaten Waitakere City this season - 21-3 in the first round and 32-14 in the second round. And only last Saturday they dealt to Otahuhu, winning 55-12 (eight tries to two) in the other semifinal.

Waitakere City have, however, held Ponsonby for most of their two matches, being down 5-0 at halftime in their first encounter, and 8-6 at halftime, then 11-9 after 60 minutes, in their second clash.

"It's the last 20 minutes which have cost us, especially when we last met," Waitakere City coach Maligi said.

"Ponsonby got on top in the forwards and ran in three tries in the last 20 minutes.

"So we've been concentrating on the areas where we struggled - scrums, lineouts, rucks and mauls."

Maligi has also been emphasising discipline, especially after three of his players were sin-binned last Saturday.