Waikato captain Deon Muir after their 2002 semi-final victory over Otago. Photo / Photosport
It's been almost two decades since Waikato fell 40-28 to Auckland in the 2002 Air New Zealand National Provincial Championship rugby final after an epic season where they only lost one round-robin match.
The Te Awamutu area had a great representation in the squad with Te Awamutu Sports' Steven Bates, Shaun Higginson, David Johnston, Deon Muir, Bruce Reihana and Nathan White all taking the field as well as prodigal son Jono Gibbes, who attended Te Awamutu College and later returned to Te Awamutu Sports from Hamilton Marist.
Halfback Rhys Duggan represented Te Awamutu Sports in the early 1990s, while Te Awamutu-born Mat Priscott was also a part of the squad.
Current All Blacks coach Ian Foster, another former Te Awamutu Sports and Te Awamutu Old Boys player, was in his first year coaching Waikato and midfielder Keith Lowen played for Pirongia almost two decades later (2020).
The 2002 NPC had three divisions with 10 teams in division one, eight teams in division two and nine teams in the third division.
At the end of the regular season, Waikato topped the division one leaderboard, five points clear of second-placed Canterbury, after only one loss to Otago (35-20) out of their nine season games. Seven of those were bonus-point victories.
The loss against Otago produced an unlikely drop goal by Duggan, an unusual occurrence from a number nine.
Waikato defeated Otago in the semifinal 41-37 before falling short in the "Battle of the Bombays" final, 40-28.
"For the past few seasons, Waikato have started well only to plateau and miss the final four. This year was different as they made it to the finals playing an attractive brand of rugby that befitted their new stadium," it says in The Sky Television 2003 Rugby Almanack.
"That they should set a Waikato record for tries and points scored in an NPC season was a tribute to the style promoted by coach and former long-term Waikato first five-eighth Ian Foster."
The Mooloo men also scored the 'most points for' in the 2002 competition with 365.
Waikato centurion and captain at the time Muir says that Coach Foster was a big help, giving the side a lot of belief in themselves.
"Fozzie had the changing room and he had the rugby brain. He made us believe and got us excited. That's why we went out and played his brand of footy and a lot of it was new to the rugby scene but man it was good rugby to play," says the 101-game No 8.
"We trained a lot smarter instead of bashing each other up like we did previously - that old school mentality, train hard, play hard. We still trained hard but we didn't bash each other up every day.
"That year Fozzie brought in a few changes to the way we wanted to play and how we trained off the field with Nic Gill [strength and conditioning coach]. Nic was new on the scene too and he was trying to build his reputation.
"He brought heart monitors and that sort of stuff into our trainings. Monitoring how hard each individual was training. A lot of our fitness was actually aerobic games and we did less contact."
It was Muir's final season with Waikato and he says that the team "was fit as hell" and played high-tempo rugby that year. They didn't have many injuries in the squad either.
"For me to become a centurion [for Waikato], I had to play every game in the round robin and we had to make the semifinal for me to get my 100th. We obviously made the final and I got my 101. I don't think I would have got through the season if it hadn't been for our training regime and for how Nic Gill trained us, our prehab and all that sort of stuff.
"Jono Gibbes was on when I played my 100th against Otago [in the semifinal] and we just went out and annihilated them. Jono was injured and shouldn't have even played. I remember him saying to me 'mate there's no way I'm missing your 100th'. He ended up playing and had a blinder, he was that sort of guy.
"We all just wanted to play well for each other, we'd come through the system together. We had a good, strong culture in the side. Marty Holah, Jono, Keith Robinson were leaders themselves and had a lot of mana - Rhys Duggan - if you named the team you couldn't say there wasn't one, they were all leaders in their own right."
Although they made it to the grand finale, Muir says the one game that stood out to him was the 59-41 victory over Canterbury.
"It was a high-scoring game, there was a massive crowd and I think they had 14 All Blacks in their side - and we beat them," he says.
"I remember [the referee] Paddy O'Brien coming up to me after the game and saying that it was a beautiful game. He said it at the after-match as well, that it was probably one of the best games he had ever refereed, the quality of play and the discipline. It was just an awesome game."
The 37-man Waikato squad contained many international and future international representatives with 14 All Blacks, 13 Māori All Blacks, two Irish, two Fijian reps as well as a Samoan and a Tongan player.
Several players, including centre Regan King who scored 14 tries in what was his debut season, were called up for the All Blacks' end-of-year tour.
"We knew [Regan] was good and his combination with Keith [Lowen] in the midfield - they were unstoppable. Many tries and many games were won through that midfield," says Muir.
"When you've got Roger Randle and the likes of Bruce Reihana too, it was just a classy backline with a solid, physical forward pack that loved to get into work. It was a beautiful mix of hard workers and flair.
"Throughout the side, we had quality players in every position. We had gun loose forwards - just guys that had been around for a while and were hearty Waikato players."
Twenty-one squad members scored points, although four were only capped once and six only played two games.
The October 26 grand final squads had an incredible amount of international and future internationals representatives too.
Auckland had 15 All Blacks in their 22 while Waikato fielded 11 All Blacks, two Fiji reps, a Tongan rep, a Samoan rep and an Irish rep.
"We just had a lot of experience and I think it was our time to go all the way. We played Otago in the semifinal at home and cleaned them up. Then we had that hiccup in the final where things didn't go our way and Auckland turned up to play," says Muir.
"[It was] an epic season. We played some of the best rugby I've ever played, in terms of the team. The rugby that we played that year was exceptional. We were cleaning up teams.
"I just wanted to enjoy my time playing for Waikato, if I could get my 100 games that was [it]. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't, I probably would have stayed around for another year because that's all I wanted to do."
WAIKATO FINAL SQUAD:
1. Michael Collins, 2. Greg Smith, 3. Deacon Manu, 4. Sean Hohneck, 5. Keith Robinson, 6. Jono Gibbes, 7. Marty Holah, 8. Deon Muir (c), 9. Rhys Duggan, 10. Derek Maisey, 11. Bruce Reihana, 12. Keith Lowen, 13. Regan King, 14. Roger Randle, 15. Todd Miller
Reserves:
16. Scott Linklater, 17. David Briggs, 18. Steven Bates, 19. Scott Couch*, 20. Isaac Boss, 21. Mark Ranby, 22. Loki Crichton
AUCKLAND FINAL SQUAD:
1. Scott Palmer, 2. Keven Mealamu, 3. Kees Meeuws, 4. Ali Williams, 5. Brad Mika, 6. Justin Collins, 7. Daniel Braid, 8. Xavier Rush (c), 9. Steve Devine, 10. Carlos Spencer, 11. Ben Atiga, 12. Sam Tuitupou, 13. Mils Muliaina, 14. Doug Howlett 15. Brent Ward
Reserves:
16. James Christian*, 17. John Afoa, 18. Bryce Williams, 19. Angus MacDonald, 20. David Gibson, 21. Lee Stensness, 22. Iliesa Tanivula
*didn't take the field
Waikato 28: Tries: King, Smith, Lowen. Conversions : Reihana (2). Penalties : Reihana (3)
Auckland 40: Tries: Howlett (2), Muliaina, Mealamu, Spencer, Rush. Conversions: Spencer (2) Penalties: Spencer (2)
HT: 20-16
To see the 2002 final full match replay, search FULL GAME: Waikato v Auckland (2002) on YouTube.
2002 FULL WAIKATO SQUAD:
Steven Bates, Isaac Boss, David Briggs, Guy Coleman, Michael Collins, Scott Couch, Loki Crichton, Chresten Davis, Rhys Duggan, Kent Fife, Jono Gibbes, Shaun Higginson, David Hill, Sean Hohneck, Marty Holah, Duncan Jamieson, David Johnston, David Kara, Regan King, Scott Linklater, Keith Lowen, Derek Maisey, Deacon Manu, Todd Miller, Daniel Moeke, Deon Muir (c), Tony Philp, Mat Priscott, Mark Ranby (vc), Roger Randle, Bruce Reihana, Keith Robinson, Greg Smith, Dwayne Sweeney, Craig West, Nathan White, Royce Willis
COACHES:
Ian Foster (head coach), Farrell Temata (assistant coach)
INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES:
All Blacks: Steven Bates, Chresten Davis, Rhys Duggan, Jono Gibbes, David Hill, Marty Holah, Regan King, Keith Lowen, Todd Miller, Mark Ranby, Roger Randle, Bruce Reihana, Keith Robinson, Royce Willis
Ireland: Isaac Boss, Nathan White
Fiji: Deacon Manu, Greg Smith
Māori All Blacks: Rhys Duggan, Jono Gibbes, David Hill, Sean Hohneck, Marty Holah, Scott Linklater, Deacon Manu, Todd Miller, Deon Muir, Roger Randle, Bruce Reihana, Dwayne Sweeney, Craig West
Samoa: Loki Crichton
Tonga: David Briggs
2002 WAIKATO RESULTS:
August 2: v Hawke's Bay at Napier won 38-17 (pre-season)
August 10: v Bay Of Plenty at Hamilton won 29-9 (pre-season)
August 18: v Southland at Hamilton won 30-15
August 24: v North Harbour at Hamilton won 28-16
August 31 v Taranaki at New Plymouth won 48-19
September 7: v Canterbury at Hamilton won 59-41
September 14: v Wellington at Wellington won 49-35
September 21: v Otago at Dunedin lost 35-20
September 28: v Auckland at Hamilton won 25-16
October 5: v Northland at Hamilton won 73-33
October 12: v Bay of Plenty at Tauranga won 33-21
October 19: v Otago at Hamilton won 41-37 (semi-final)
October 26: v Auckland at Hamilton lost 40-28 (final)
WAIKATO 2002 INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
Bruce Reihana – 105 points (1 try, 26 conversions, 16 penalties)
Regan King – 70 points (14 tries)
David Hill – 61 points (2 tries, 12conversions, 9 penalties)
Roger Randle – 50 points (10 tries)
Keith Lowen – 35 points (7 tries)
Mark Ranby – 25 points (5 tries)
Loki Crichton – 22 points (8 conversions, 2 penalties)
Steven Bates – 20 points (4 tries)
Derek Maisey – 20 points (4 tries)
Deacon Manu – 15 points (3 tries)
Michael Collins – 10 points (2 tries)
Marty Holah – 10 points (2 tries)
Todd Miller – 10 points (2 tries)
Deon Muir– 10 points (2 tries)
Isaac Boss – 5 points (1 try)
David Briggs – 5 points (1 try)
David Johnston – 5 points (1 try)
Scott Linklater – 5 points (1 try)
Daniel Moeke – 5 points (1 try)
Greg Smith – 5 points (1 try)
Penalty try – 5 points (1 try)
Rhys Duggan – 3 points (1 drop goal)
Scott Robertson has resisted any temptation to rotate his side for the All Blacks’ year-ending test against Italy, naming as strong a side as possible for Sunday’s clash.