Latu's likely finale a fine exit

Nili Latu

It wasn't the finish Nili Latu or his Bay of Plenty teammates wanted, but at the end of Saturday's 46-14 Air New Zealand Cup quarterfinal loss to Auckland, the Steamers could still hold their heads high.

And none were higher than Latu's gleaming brown dome, sheened with sweat after 80 honest minutes of harassing his opponents with harrowing contempt.

Unlike his teammates, however, Latu wasn't just reflecting on the Eden Park defeat, the scale of which owed more to the frivolous froth of the manic Auckland tactics than any resounding Bay collapse.

Latu was also reflecting on four proud years in blue and gold, which most likely ended on Saturday.

After 42 madcap games, his Bay of Plenty roots have been pulled.

"I'm waiting for Super 14 selection and if I don't get in, today will be my last game for the Bay," Latu said. "Even if I do get in to Super 14, it will probably still be my last game because of the World Cup.

"It's been a great four years for me with the Bay, with everything I've learned and I've been so proud to be part of it."

Next year's World Cup will take most test players out of the domestic rugby scene from July onward, and Latu was the captain of Tonga this year.

With his fearless bravado and gleaming gold teeth, the 24-year-old openside flanker has developed something of a cult following. Over the past four years, his play has summed up the Steamers nicely.

He's hard and nuggety, shows flashes of brilliance, sometimes goes missing for 10 minutes at a time and, with a couple of extra inches in height, could compete with the big boys.

Unfortunately, one of Auckland's multiple personalities used on Saturday was the Harlem Globetrotter model and for a while Latu and his comrades could only stand and gape.

"We thought they were going to take us up front first but their backs _ Dougy [Howlett] and Sam [Tuitupou] and those guys _ just spread us wide.

"We showed a bit of ticker to come back to 14-15 at halftime but they stepped it up after the break. Give them a half chance and they're gone."

Bay put together two sweet tries in the first spell to claw back into the game and for 20 fruitless minutes of the second spell hammered into the stiff Eden Park breeze, threatening the Auckland line with guile and pluck.

Then the slumbering Auckland ogre shook off its hangover, monstered four lightening tries and put the matter to rest. Bay let themselves down with poor body positioning at crucial times, shaky flank defence and the inability to conjure up freakish pace and sublime ball skills on a whim in the way Auckland did.

Apart from that, they were quite good.

Mark Sorenson was outstanding around the field, Cory Aporo showcased his rare ability to stand and continue running in tackles and Colin Bourke was inventive and effective. It would be a travesty if any of these three missed Super 14 contracts.

Latu, meanwhile, is more relaxed about those prospects. He briefly considered making himself unavailable for the draft to bank solely on a Chiefs contract but has changed his mind in the past week.

"I've got a young family and I wanted to think about my future. Since I've played for Tonga, it's opened a few doors but it's made my selection hard for Super 14. I had to weigh it up."

Ironically, his Chiefs place is tipped to go to his young team-mate and openside rival Tanerau Latimer. It's a measure of Latu that he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Tanerau's a young player but he's going to be great.

"It's funny _ he asks me lots of questions but we're both learning heaps off each other.

"When you work hard for something, you want to see success come out of it. I've seen that success in the last four years because the players have wanted to play for each other and to push each other to the next level. If we get people making Super 14, it will be great for the union and great for club rugby."

Steamers captain Ben Castle will miss his Steamers and Chiefs team-mate if he does depart for richer overseas climes.

"Nili's been outstanding. He's got a cult following through New Zealand and he's mad.

"He's an outstanding footballer who can turn nothing into something ...

"It really will be unfortunate if he does go. If Lats can take Nili's mantle, he'll be awesome as well."

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES