Waikato 21
Auckland 18
Dwayne Sweeney might have put a dagger where it hurts into Auckland on Saturday but he warmed the hearts of those who like their rugby to be based upon traditional rivalries.
As the players trudged through the Eden Park gloom towards the sanctuary of the changing sheds following the visitors'
shock after-the-hooter victory, it was halfback Brendon Leonard who reinforced to Sweeney what he had just achieved.
"He told me I'd just fulfilled every Waikato boy's dream," Sweeney said. "I'm a Waikato boy born and bred and growing up Waikato boys dream about scoring the winning try in the corner against Auckland at Eden Park.
"I can cross that off the list. I'm pretty happy at the moment."
What made it all the more special was that it was Sweeney who called the final move that led to the try in the corner, long after the siren had sounded.
Waikato were setting up for a drop goal, that much was obvious.
First five-eighths Trent Renata, who had a polished game, had dropped into the pocket and replacement halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow was expertly picking up his one-off runners to get into position.
Sweeney, lurking wide on the left, suddenly noticed that the pick and goes had pulled more Auckland defenders in tight than they should have and overrode the call.
Two pairs of good hands later and he was swan-diving in the corner.
"I saw a few backs had crept in too tight and knew that if we kept our width and trusted our skill and hands we would score in the corner."
It wasn't Sweeney's only moment of magic. In the first half he had defied the conditions by taking a kick just outside his 22m, beating three players before working a one-two with Romana Graham that gave him a path to the line.
"I thought I was in for all money but I ran out of gas. Luckily Sos [Sosene Anesi] was there."
While Waikato coach Chris Gibbes was lauding his troops' ability to stay calm and steal the game, his counterpart Mark Anscombe was wondering how they managed to let the game slip.
He tried manfully to rationalise the defeat, but struggled.
"We played the game at the wrong end of the park and our set-piece hurt us a bit, we weren't accurate enough with it," Anscombe said. "We had a penalty and we didn't put it out. We had a scrum at the end and we didn't clear the ball from it. End of the game, that's what it comes down to.
"Very disappointing."
He has every right to be disappointed, it's a coach's prerogative.
In time, though, he might take some comfort from the fact that his side played pretty well in dreadful conditions and it took a Boy's Own special for Waikato to beat them.
