Hawkes Bay stamp authority in black and white

HAWKES BAY 37 COUNTIES MANUKAU 16

Hawkes Bay deserved a better fanfare. As the famous black and white jerseys turned into a marauding mass and forced Counties Manukau to delve into their bag of party tricks, a lone trumpeter heralded the Magpies' march towards the second division title.

The crowd of 5200 at McLean Park in Napier was treated to some of the worst wind instrument work you might hear outside of a pre-school band.

There might have been serious compositions that led to this sporadic noise, but they were as well hidden as Counties Manukau's title bid turned out to be.

Nothing was going to blow Hawkes Bay off course. They were worth every point of their win and now face Bay of Plenty in the promotion/relegation clash.

Counties Manukau could have no complaints, and their captain, Wayne McEntee, even backed a Hawkes Bay victory in Rotorua on Saturday.

"I'd like to see them show that a second division side can actually do it," McEntee said.

"It's all been written about in the papers ... the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in this competition."

Hawkes Bay's heavily-built pack rumbled Counties Manukau in the scrums, particularly just before halftime when the thin red, black and white stripes of the Steelers pack turned into what looked like a game of pick-up-sticks near their goal-line.

Flanker Michael Johnson's resulting try gave Hawkes Bay a 15-8 lead.

When the video referee awarded wing Ray Karauria a try for his work in a rolling maul in the 62nd minute, Hawkes Bay led 25-11 and the game was up for Counties Manukau.

They had no answer to Hawkes Bay's power game and were left desperately trying to create opportunities for wing Sitiveni Sivivatu, who can turn the smallest of invitations into a full-scale advance party.

On one occasion when Sivivatu did get a sniff of space on the outside, centre Sam Leung Wai cut him down.

Sivivatu tried his hand at a few one-man magic tricks from deep, but the only thing getting sawn in half was Counties Manukau's prospects. By the time he had scored his 14th try of the season, after a fine break by centre Casey Laulala, it was far too late.

Hawkes Bay captain and No 8 Mutu Ngarimu said it was a proud moment capturing Hawkes Bay's second consecutive title.

This week would involve doing some homework on Bay of Plenty, who he had not seen during this year's first division.

"The union's driven towards getting into the first division," said Ngarimu, a carpenter who hails from the Ngati Porou East Coast centre of Ruatoria. "There's a lot of good young players here. Napier Boys' High has done very well this year and the under-15s won the national title. We would like to keep some of those good players here."

Coach Kieran Keane believes he faces a tough task lifting his players after coming through the second division semifinal against Nelson Bays and then Saturday's final.

"I've got no doubt these players would cope in the first division, but trying to get up for a third time in three weeks is going to be very hard," said Keane, who is unsure if star first five-eighths Tim Manawatu - missing on Saturday with a knee injury - would be fit for the match.

Only a year ago, Counties Manukau were a first division union, but there had long been signs they could quickly be sucked into the second division world.

Maybe their best chance of promotion was this year, when they still had some first division experience in their bones.

The Steelers have lost class acts such as Danny Lee, Blair Feeney and Loki Crichton, while Koula Tukino has disappeared and Kristian Ormsby is off to Wellington. Others such as Sivivatu and Laulala are too good not to get a chance at a higher level.

Captain McEntee is also in a difficult position. This year, he was in the Chiefs squad, but as everyone knows, there are not too many second-tier blokes in the Super 12.

After Saturday's defeat, McEntee said: "Set plays cost us. Hawkes Bay got front- foot dominance and from there, we were always dealing with the scraps. We are a young side and there are a few dings in the armour. It's like a car. We'll take it to the panelbeaters and get it spruced up."

When asked about his future, he said : "I love Counties. I was born and bred there." That does not really answer the question. As he had already observed, the rich get richer and the poor poorer.