Bay rugby support strong - just like Moerewa winners

When United Kawakawa's Peter Totopita found himself in the clear and loping after a  bobbling ball with only minutes left, it brought cheers of hope from half the 1000-strong crowd at Saturday's Bay of Islands club rugby final.
And when Totopita controlled it to score, fan approval thundered through the valley - the conversion meant they trailed 18-15 and had a sniff of a chance.
But in the crowd  was one smile bigger than the rest - and  the smiler wasn't backing either team.
Bay of Islands Rugby Sub-union chairman Brent Hewitt watched as the  kick-off whistle sounded  while  wardens were still  directing a stream of traffic to parking spots.
When 80 minutes were up and Moerewa arms went to the air after holding on for the three-point win - Hewitt breathed in a different success. It had been a level of club rugby support not reached in years.
"It doesn't get much better than this. I think other sub-unions would be jealous of the numbers we get to games," said Hewitt.
With the home ground advantage and the wind at their backs, UK tried to put behind them a two-player suspension received the previous week following a "filthy" semifinal against Kerikeri.
The round-robin table-toppers were forced to take on an imposing neighbouring Moerewa side without the power and organisation of star No8 Lisiate Hauhau.
And it hurt them early on when the Moerewa forward pack gave the crowd a glimpse of their game plan and replied to a long-range Ardz Simona UK penalty.
The 12-metre eight-man drive from a lineout went from first to fifth gear in very short time.
"Our plan was to keep it in tight to try and starve UK of possession. They've got dangerous runners and give them too much (ball) and they can cut you to pieces," said winning Moerewa captain Chic Prime.
Prop Anthony Ngawati later claimed the try.
"He's too big to argue with," said Moerewa co-coach Paul Owens.
Fullback Rhys Tenana missed the conversion to hold a 5-3 lead but UK's centre Joseph Latu had his own plans.
The dangerous Latu was forced to put boot to ball often in the face of a strong defensive line. His touch paid off midway through the first half when he chipped for open spaces.
The ball turned 90 degrees away from the presumed safety of touch, and Latu slammed it down then tossed it into crowd, 8-5.
At oranges both sides knew what was to unfold. There was a quiet confidence among the men in black, knowing the wind behind them would benefit.
In green, they readied for deep probes and talked of quick lineouts to try  to run in back.
Owen Pihema and Prime continued to impress in the forward pack.
 Prime was everywhere, while Pihema put in his best performance of the season with strong running and huge hits that snuffed out attack and turned over possession.
But Prime says the whole team excelled.
"We stuck to the plan and Sam Henare and Peter Watene shut them down centre-field,"said the quietly spoken but imposing Prime.
Tenana levelled it  with a second-half penalty before a huge effort in defence from UK held off raids of up to  10 phases.
Pihema found his foot in touch when he reached for the corner and a try was butchered when Watene cut back inside with a free man on his outside.
Pressure, however, turned to points when a failed penalty attempt from Tenana was knocked on in goal.
 The ball from the resulting five-metre scrum went blind and Henare cut through the gap to the line.
First five Anthony George took over the kicking duties and added the conversion, then a penalty, for an 18-8 lead but Totopita's effort brought the game alive again.
For UK, there was none better than blindside loosie Jim La'auli, shifted to centre in the second half to try  to create midfield penetration.
Moerewa, last year's beaten finalists, held strong for the final minutes to get the win and claim the 2009 champions' title.