A well-drilled Christ College forward pack executing equally well-drilled set pieces denied hosts Wanganui Collegiate their first win in the 92nd annual Quadrangular Rugby Tournament in more than two decades on Wednesday.
The visitors dominated from the front to beat a brave Collegiate First XV 33-7, with the homeside's convertedtry a tad controversial.
To all intents and purposes many in the massive crowd hugging the sidelines were convinced the Collegiate forwards had got behind a pushover try late in the second half, but the referee was not in a position to see ball grounded.
In stepped assistant referee Ben Lourie who convinced the matchplay official otherwise and a try was awarded to loud applause from the sidelines. Collegiate winger Logan Henry, who was finally credited with grounding the ball, made no mistake with the conversion.
On Monday Collegiate bullocked their way into the final after a 19-13 upset over defending champions Nelson College. That left Nelson to scrap it out for third and fourth with Wellington College in Wednesday's curtain raiser which Nelson won 47-0.
Collegiate director of sport Barry Touzel, while proud of his lads, was not surprised to see them beaten by a better side on the day.
"The Christ College XV were a very well-drilled side, especially the forward pack which gave our guys no ball at all. Their lineout, scrums and set pieces were executed very well and they were clearly the better side on the day," Touzel said.
The Christ College XV did have an edge with former All Blacks captain Reuben Thorne as coach.
"I, like everyone else sideline, thought we had managed to pushover for that late try. Out guys appeared to have just let the ball go when the try had been scored and they picked it up and carried on. The referee was unsighted I think and let the game go until his touch judge stepped in. Our guys never gave up and fought to the death.
"This was a fantastic quadrangular which showed the sides are getting closer together than they've been in recent years. For the past few years we have battled it out with Wellington for third and fourth."
Collegiate First XV manager and director of rugby Guy Lennox agreed with Touzel that the Christ College forwards were simply too well-drilled to allow the hosts a realistic chance of victory.
"They gave us no platform to work from, they were just too good on the day, but we never gave up," Lennox said.
The last time Wanganui Collegiate won the quadrangular was when it posted back-to-back victories in 1990 and 1991.
