'95 NPC final seared in memory

It is a tale of the Bear and the Hawk. In nature's kingdom the furry animal would deal to the aggressive bird, but at Eden Park a decade ago, the roles were reversed in the NPC final.

The Hawk, aka Colin Hawke, the referee for the 1995 final between Otago and Auckland, ruled that the Bear, aka Stu Forster, the Otago halfback, illegally kicked the ball out of the Auckland scrum and awarded a penalty try against the southerners.

The sound of the black plastic Acme Thunderer whistle and Hawke's raised right arm four minutes from time signalled Otago's 23-19 defeat.

The pictures showed their anguish, with Jeff Wilson giving Hawke the full teapot, Marc Ellis vocalising his bile and Arran Pene striding away in disbelief. Jamie Joseph has slumped to the ground, and Tony Brown is staring down the touch judge.

Time has dimmed some of the Otago distress, and Hawke admits that, in hindsight and reviewing all the circumstances, he would not have made the same decision.

"On balance I would not do it," he said. "Under law there was no issue with it, but in terms of the game I would have a different view of it. At the time it was all a bit emotional, and you go with your best instincts.

"The game should be decided by the participants, not the referee."

The whistle is displayed in the Mornington Tavern in Dunedin. The game has gone into Otago rugby folklore and remains one of the cruellest recent results for the province.

Someone, said Hawke, paid about $2500 for the whistle at an auction to raise money for one of the city's sports centres.

Pene felt more gutted when Otago were denied the Ranfurly Shield in 1994 after another blast from Hawke's whistle. That time David Latta was penalised and Andrew Mehrtens kicked the winning goal.

Those matches involving Hawke provoked intense feelings from Otago rugby supporters about the referee's competence. He got some hate mail and plenty of abuse.

At the time, Hawke was working for the police in Timaru and recalls getting letters at the station.

"One was there from Balclutha," he recalled, "saying Hawke you bastard, watch yourself. We have got a bullet waiting for you.

"The next day there was another, and the boys wanted to dust it down but I opened it. It said, 'Dear Hawke, sorry about the letter yesterday. We must have had too much to drink'."

It was signed "Telly Sights".

Hawke says the anger has abated although he continues to get a good-natured roasting about his decisions.

"Through it all the Otago people, players and administrators have been very good, very resilient and very professional."

One of course still prepared to play agent provocateur is Ellis.

"I was screaming at Hawke. It was a prick of a call," he said. "Colin was always the person we did not want. He was the last ref we needed.

"And you can tell Forster that he lost us the game, too. Without him we would have won."

The NPC final was Ellis' last for Otago before he switched to league. It was the 100th provincial game for Forster and wing Paul Cooke, and Pene and Joseph were about to head off to contracts in Japan.

"I must say I allowed myself to vent my feelings," Ellis said. "We had a cool team, a lot of bloody good guys, and Gordy Hunter was a great bloke as coach. He knew his limitations, but he made us believe in ourselves. And we almost pulled off the unthinkable."

Before the final, Otago were at long odds to trouble Auckland.

They had lost the 1992 and 93 finals, and it was felt Auckland had to be suffering from food poisoning or some other ailment to miss out in 1995.

"I don't like being the bridesmaid," the laconic Hunter said before the final. "I think Graham Henry might have the flowers for me already."

Otago recovered to take the 1998 crown, were beaten in a local derby by Canterbury in 2001 and tomorrow, 10 years on from that dramatic October 15 final in 1995, Auckland and Otago meet again in the NPC decider.

Wilson initially feigns memory loss about 1995 before he speaks about the devastation of the final minutes.

"To get beaten by the referee, not the opposition, was probably the most gutting thing to happen. The referee decided the game. It was a penalty offence, but Colin decided the game."

Forster accepts Ellis' mocking with the retort that any time he sees Ellis on a television programme he switches channels.

He thinks Auckland were a little flat in the 1995 final, that the match could have gone either way though he thought Otago deserved to win.

"I saw Zinny [Brooke] after the game, and he said the ball was definitely out of the scrum when I kicked it. But that's life, that's sport."

Opposition No 8 Pene said the tackle he missed on Auckland loosie Mark Carter when he scored was as much to blame for Otago's defeat.

"I was wide and left a gap for him because I was going to slam him over the top of the ruck. But I slipped on the surface and let a try in, and that was a turning point. It was a hell of a game, and I remember Zinny dropping the ball with the line open too."

* Jeff Wilson "To get beaten by the referee, not the opposition, was probably the most gutting thing to happen. The referee decided the game."

* Colin Hawke got some hate mail and plenty of abuse, recalling one from Balclutha saying, "Hawke you bastard, watch yourself. We have got a bullet waiting for you". On the decision: "At the time it was all a bit emotional, and you go with your best instincts." 

* Arran Pene says the tackle he missed on Auckland loosie Mark Carter when he scored was as much to blame for Otago's defeat: "I was wide and left a gap for him because I was going to slam him over the top of the ruck. But I slipped on the surface and let a try in, and that was a turning point."

* Marc Ellis "I was screaming at Hawke, it was a prick of a call. Colin was always the person we did not want. He was the last ref we needed. And you can tell [Otago halfback Stu] Forster that he lost us the game too. Without him we would have won.