MIDFIELD TITAN: Wanganui second five Poasa Waqanibau looks to palm away South Canterbury's Sione Vea.
It took Fijian flair to make Meads Cup magic as Steelform Wanganui finally reclaimed their perch at the top of the Pink Batts Heartland Championship with a dynamic 28-11 win over South Canterbury at Timaru's Alpine Energy Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Cool heads at the crucial moments and then stunning back-to-back tries in the 64th and 68th minutes from regathered kicks to break the home team's spirit were the telling stories in a pulsating final.
In the final reckoning, it was Wanganui's defence for 77 straight minutes which undid the home side, who were buoyed by the visitors nightmare start where they lost the kickoff and flanker Sam Vea, about to have an excellent match, slipped straight through a yawning gap at the breakdown to score.
Going into the significant breeze, the home side were showing their eight-game winning streak was well deserved as they worked hard off the ruck and made clever short offloads.
But Wanganui, having faced a tougher road to the final and fielding so many veterans conditioned to the pressure, held their line and began to use the tail wind effectively - trying everything in the book from surging up the guts to spreading wide, where it seemed the first-five combination of Stephen Perofeta and Poasa Waqanibau were only one line break away from scything the Cantabrians up.
In the engine room, the front row of Cole Baldwin, Viki Tofa and Kamipeli Latu were making themselves known with some vicious tackles, Latu especially playing like a man possessed against his NZ Heartland opposites Matt Fetu and Timaru Tafa.
Linking them all was halfback Lindsay Horrocks, having his best match in Wanganui colours, certainly since that great game he played two years ago against the same team.
After he ironed out a few discipline issues with referee Liam Scanlon, Horrocks was probing, chased everything and constantly alternated the focus of the offense between the muscle inside him and the pace outside, which kept South Canterbury guessing, although their defence was initially up to the task.
Spooner-Neera booted an excellent 55m penalty then was away with his follow-up attempts, the third coming when South Canterbury winger Rupeni Cokanasiga was sinbinned for knocking the ball down.
Wanganui momentarily took their eyes off the prize as a series of penalties at the breakdown brought them into kicking range of first-five Jason Merrett for 8-3 after 26 minutes.
Flanker Frank Havea was making himself a real nuisance for Wanganui's loose forwards.
Perofeta, fullback Ace Malo, Horrocks and winger Michael Nabuliwaqa, unknowingly on the verge of starting something very special, were linking well with the offloads, but either a dropped pass or good South Canterbury scourging in the tackle would undo it.
Spooner-Neera landed his second penalty after a high tackle and then Wanganui finally found the gap they needed as winger Samu Kubunavanua stole the ruck ball and dashed away, with Tofa flicking up a fumbled inside pass for Perofeta to find Nabuliwaqa, who dashed in at the corner.
Having lost the initiative just before half-time - South Canterbury would now become their own worst enemies with crucial mistakes.
While Wanganui were far from perfect, all the howling unforced errors came from the home side, with winger Erenimo Tau fumbling a certain try scoring pass from lock Josateki Veikune after a brilliant run.
Merrett started missing touch then dropped the ball in his 22 for Wanganui to swoop and Latu to crash over, with the TMO unable to rule a try from the television angles he had available.
Wanganui hit the line for 13 phases before getting a penalty for Spooner-Neera to extend them to 14-8.
Yet the breeze remained telling as South Canterbury could boot clear of their half and go straight back into the Wanganui danger zone, where a Cokanasiga chip kick was just missed by the chasers, with the try line again begging.
Havea forced a gingerly moving Bryn Hudson into giving away a penalty kick to Merrett and then in a big moment, captain Peter Rowe was penalised for dumping blatantly infringing halfback Nick Annear in dangerous fashion, reversing what would have been a kickable Wanganui penalty. But Wanganui's Fijians were about to turn the match upside down, as South Canterbury were first held up over the try line and then hooker Sione Vea dropped the ball with an overlap outside him.
Playing the advantage, Nabuliwaqa somehow slipped through four tacklers behind his line and proceeded to link with Waqanibau, who popped the ball overhead to Spooner-Neera.
His clearing kick was regathered by the flying Fijians as Nabuliwaqa, Kubunavanua and Waqanibau dealt the ball between them like card sharks to put Kubunavanua over for one of the most stunning tries seen on New Zealand television this year. But Wanganui weren't done as Malo made a tactical chip-kick on halfway and South Canterbury fullback Paula Fifita got another horror bounce as Horrocks snatched it for a well-deserved try.
Mentally, the home team were now gone - conceding turnovers at ruck time and being driven over as they desperately tried to manufacture a miracle.
Having led Wanganui rugby back from the depths to win the Lochore Cup and Meads Cup in consecutive seasons, emotional coach Jason Caskey knew all the homework done to take costly errors out of their game had paid dividends. "That's what we said all along - stay in the game because experience is going to come along. We had it, they didn't, and they fell to pieces a little bit." He praised Horrocks and the entire forward pack for knuckling down and working themselves into the dominant position in the second half. "It's the belief of the team and the attitude."
Rowe had the same pride in his television interview: "They really stood up. I thought at half time we were really under the pump. It's a real testament to what they've got under their shirts."
-Wanganui 28 (Michael Nabuliwaqa, Samu Kubunavanua, Lindsay Horrocks tries; Trinity Spooner-Nera 3 pen, 2 con) South Canterbury 11 (Sam Vea try; Jason Merrett 2 pen). HT: 11-8.