Rahui celebrate a try in their 24-13 win against College Old Boys at the weekend, to set up a final against Shannon.
Rahui celebrate a try in their 24-13 win against College Old Boys at the weekend, to set up a final against Shannon.
Rāhui will attempt the rare feat of going through an entire Horowhenua-Kāpiti club rugby season unbeaten by winning the season finale against Shannon at Levin Domain tomorrow.
Seldom does a team go through a season without dropping a game, but the Rahui team have set a consistently high standard all year.
And a bold showing from the Rāhui team would, no doubt, provide their coach Sam Doyle with a bit of a boost in his much-publicised battle against cancer.
Just a few games into the season the former New Zealand Māori All Blacks and Hurricanes back was diagnosed with leukemia and hospitalised for treatment.
Since then the Rāhui team and club have continued to formally recognise Doyle as the head coach, although had appointed Makaore Bevan-Wilson and Slade Sturmey as interim coaches in his absence.
Bevan-Wilson was keen to impress that he was "interim" coach only. Doyle was still the coach, watching games through a live television feed and passing through his thoughts and information each week.
"We are still seeking his feedback. He watches the games through the live feed and passes on messages to the group each week," he said.
"He has a great rugby brain so the boys take on board his opinions and his thoughts. He is a big part of the club and the community."
So, with that experienced coaching staff complemented by a fit and determined team, Rahui have been the form horse all year, led from the front by classy halfback Leon Ellison and openside flanker Teariki Peneha.
Sam Gibson brought up 50 games for Rahui when they beat College Old Boys 24-13 at Otaki Domain last week to make the final.
The midfield had been explosive with Manaia Osborne and Louis Marshall playing brilliantly all year, while there was experience with 50-game lock Sam Gibson and veteran prop Hadley Gardner in the forwards.
Both Rāhui and Shannon clubs were overdue to have their names etched on the Ramsbotham Cup.
Since the inception of the competition in 1893, the clubs have won the championship eight and nine times respectively.
Rahui last won the title in 2011, while you have to go back to 1991 to find the last time Shannon was etched on the Ramsbottom Cup.
Out of all the clubs in the current competition, Shannon's drought is the longest. Many of the current Shannon squad are the sons of players from that early 1990s era that won three championships in succession.
Shannon coach Justin Pape said he remembers watching games as a youngster from the sideline. It was a golden era where Shannon went through many seasons unbeaten.
Shannon celebrate their gripping semifinal win against Toa last week to make the final.
Pape himself played senior rugby for more than a decade in the maroon jersey, but never won a title. He was twice in a team that lost a final, and three times in a team that lost at the semifinals stage.
Shannon were bolstered in their nail-biting 27-26 win against Toa in the semifinal last weekend by the return from injury of the excitement machine Illisoni Rauhihi.
The speedster might only be "70kg ringing wet" but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in electricity, no more evident than in a length-of-the-field try he scored against Toa when coming off the bench.
Shannon will again be captained by loose forward Logan Broughton and will be looking for big games from some of their more experienced players like Dallas Wiki, Toddy Sheilds, Carlos Third and Jesse Halls.
Tomorrow's game will be the first final in 20 years to involve two teams from the Horowhenua end of the province, such has been the strength of Kāpiti-based clubs in recent times.
Rāhui are there by virtue of their 24-13 semifinal win against College Old Boys, while Shannon scrapped through by the skin of their teeth in a nail-biter against Toa.
Toa had their chance to win the game late in the piece but in the heat of the final moments made a decision to take a drop goal with time up on the clock. The three-pointer still left them one point adrift of Shannon though.
The curtain-raiser for the Bill Muir Cup senior reserve competition will be between College Old Boys and last season's senior competition-winning club Foxton.
Meanwhile, all teams are treating the final as if is still going ahead, despite a possibility it might be postponed due to newly reported cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand this week.
Both teams are prepared to run their final training sessions and treat them as if the club final is still going ahead this weekend, until they received instruction from authorities to the contrary.
Manaia Osborne makes another break for Rahui in the midfield in the semi-final last week against College Old Boys at Ōtaki Domain.
Past winners of the Ramsbotham Cup: 1893 Kia Toa 1894 Kia Toa 1895-97 No championship 1898-1900 Levin 1901 Raukawa 1902-1905 Wanderers 1906 Tainui 1907-08 Hui Mai 1909 Kia Toa 1910 Hui Mai 1911-12 Wanderers 1913 Hui Mai 1914 Wanderers 1915 Otaki United 1916-18 No championship 1919-20 Wanderers 1922-23 Hui Mai 1924-26 Wanderers 1927 Hui Mai 1928-29 Wanderers 1930 Otaki 1931 Wanderers 1932-33 Punahau 1934 Otaki 1935 Hui Mai 1936 Shannon 1937 Ōtaki 1938 Shannon 1939 Kuku-Manakau 1940-41 Foxton 1942-44 no championship 1945 Foxton-Motua 1946 Athletic 1947 Foxton 1948 Wanderers and Hui Mai 1949 Shannon 1950-51 Wanderers 1952-54 Rahui 1955 Horowhenua COB 1956-58 Rahui 1959 Foxton 1960 Wanderers 1961-63 Foxton 1964 Horowhenua COB 1965-66 Athletic 1967-69 Paraparaumu 1970 Shannon 1971 Athletic 1972 Athletic and Paraparaumu 1973 Athletic 1974 Athletic and Wanderers 1975-76 Athletic 1977 Wanderers 1978 Paraparaumu 1979 Wanderers and Rahui 1980 Wanderers 1981 Shannon 1982-83 Wanderers 1984 Shannon 1985 Athletic 1986 Foxton 1987 Foxton and Paraparaumu 1988 Foxton 1989-91 Shannon 1992 Wanderers 1993-94 College Old Boys 1995-96 Athletic 1997 Paraparaumu 1998 Athletic 1999 Toa 2000 Athletic and Wanderers 2001 Wanderers 2002 Waikanae 2003-05 Toa 2006 Paraparaumu 2007-09 Waikanae 2010 Paraparaumu 2011 Rahui 2012-16 Paraparaumu 2017 Waikanae 2018 Toa 2019 Foxton 2020 ????????
