Steelform Whanganui's Raymond Salu scored his side's first try against Horowhenua-Kāpiti in the Lochore Cup semifinal at Cooks Gardens. Photo / Kate Belsham, Ivy Digital
Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby
Rebuild seasons can be painful, and so it proved for Steelform Whanganui, who had a home Lochore Cup final in their grasp but were overrun in 100 minutes by neighbours Horowhenua-Kāpiti on Saturday.
A successful penalty kickoff in the final play by reserve halfback Thomas Barnsley took the visitors to an 18-18 draw at fulltime of the Cooks Gardens semifinal, and with tired limbs revived, Horowhenua-Kāpiti kept the momentum up right from kickoff of extra time – scoring 22 unanswered points for a 40-18 victory.
Having lost 27-21 at the same ground just three weeks before, it was the Levin union’s first derby win since 2017 and only their second-ever victory at Cooks, the last being 2014.
Former Whanganui winger Joeli Rauca was the man on the spot to score a hat-trick of tries, and it could have been four if rookie Dominic (Joey) Devine had not won a lot of hearts with an 80m chase to run down the flying Fijian and tackle him out right at the corner flag early in the second half.
The score was 8-8 at the time, as Whanganui had defended well going into the wind in the first half, aided by some inaccurate Horowhenua-Kāpiti kicking, but when it came time for them to seize control, they faltered with some poor decision-making and handling errors.
Still, leading 15-8 and then 18-15 with the clock ticking down, Whanganui should have been able to ice the game, but fatigue – physical and mental – set in as the visitors just sent their big forwards loose for carry after carry to get back in range for the equaliser.
After the restart, going back into the wind for 10 minutes, Whanganui just did not fire – Horowhenua-Kāpiti getting a big lift from their bench as reserve forward Michael Laursen and former New Zealand Heartland XV winger Willie Paia’aua scored after great team lead-up work near the line.
Whanganui got their tries during each half of regulation in the same way – prop Raymond Salu barging over from short range and makeshift winger Shaun O’Leary going over untouched after quick hands from the ruck.
Fullback Adam Boult brought his kicking boots, particularly with a sideline conversion and long-range penalty in the second half, but so did his opposites Barnsley and first-five Rory Woollett.
It was notable that certain Whanganui veterans played to previously established standards – Salu and centre Alekesio Vakarorogo fought for yards on every carry, while flanker Samu Kubunavanua contested the high ball and the breakdown with determination.
But others struggled to maintain cohesion under the barrage, the day summed up in the second-half of extra time, when trailing 35-18, when attempts to keep the ball alive saw Rauca make another steal and this time he couldn’t be run down, scoring his hat-trick.
It was a disappointing way for 95-game veteran and former captain Dane Whale to most likely finish his first-class rugby career.
Current skipper Doug Horrocks knew that once Horowhenua-Kāpiti saved the game on fulltime, the younger side was going to struggle to find more petrol in the tank.
“Felt like we were just hanging in. When they got that penalty it was a do-or-die moment and we had to front for that first 10 [minutes], which we didn’t.
“You get what you deserve and we didn’t deserve to win, and unfortunately that’s the way it turns out.
“Same as last week, we’re not in position to make a tackle - we’re high and we roll through them a bit.
“Always back-tracking and we can’t get the stops that we need, and it just becomes hard to defend when you’re always going backwards.
“The whole season we’ve been patchy, and that last 20 we were definitely the wrong side of patchy.
“A young team, first time through, and you hope to improve from here.”
Coach Jason Hamlin also wants lessons learned from this campaign from the newcomers.
“Definitely, there’s some young talent there, some raw talent, but again we’ve got to be able to get these players operating at what we think is good enough for Heartland.
“These boys will show the promise of it and they’ll fight for it, but they’ve got to take the opportunities and be clinical.
“I think back to the start with our preseason where we were scoring tries and moving the ball really well.
“The last few weeks we’ve become quite stagnant in that area ... we weren’t taking advantage of the space that actually was there.
“They’d run out of juice a bit towards the end of it all.
“That [Rauca] try before halftime came back to haunt us after they defended so well – if you’d have gone in 8-3 at halftime into that wind and you’d be really happy.
“But then we played 20 minutes [with the wind] and did nothing, played in between, and our game drivers didn’t really get us where we need.
“We just ran to where [defenders] were, just kept doing the same things, and it was frustrating.
“Ray’s try was a really good example of what we should have been doing.
“There’s been a thing all year around us not exiting smart enough. We had opportunities to win the game within the 80 and we didn’t.
“The last 10 minutes summed up our year – so close but frustrating.”
Horowhenua-Kāpiti 40 (J. Rauca 3, M. Laursen, W. Paia’aua tries; T. Barnsley 2 pen, 2 con, R. Woollett pen, con) bt Whanganui 18 (R. Salu, S. O’Leary tries; A. Boult 2 pen, con) after extra time. HT: 8-8; FT: 18-18.