Canterbury 28 Wellington 20
As Colin Slade slid over for his second try inside the opening half to give his side a decisive 18-3 lead, Michael Jackson's Beat It started playing on the public address system.
They're a cruel lot in Christchurch. They like to put the knife in when a team is down. But it nearly backfired, as Wellington staged an impressive second-half comeback.
After losing six finals in seven years and being reminded of the fact they had won only once in eight finals in the past 11 years, they'd had enough. They wanted their own wedding. The bridesmaid has to get married eventually. Surely.
They trailed 18-3 at halftime and 25-10 heading into the final quarter but closed to 25-20 with six minutes remaining. At that stage, the red and blacks were under enormous pressure. Slade was stuck on the naughty step, injured skipper George Whitelock was struggling and Wellington had momentum.
But champion sides don't give up that mantle easily. They regathered, hit the rucks like they were the most important of the season and won a penalty within kicking range.
When Stephen Brett obliged with only 70 seconds remaining, the Canterbury faithful could finally breathe easily. Wellington were beaten. Again.
"It doesn't get any easier," Wellington first five Piri Weepu said. "I have been here seven times and I'm 0 for 7. Some of the guys have found [defeat] as hard as I did last year."
Wellington paid for an indifferent first 40 minutes. They barely fired a shot trying to beat Canterbury by playing like Canterbury. They kicked possession away, departing from the ad-lib style that had worked so well for them all season.
It played into the hands of Canterbury, who have built dynasties on absorbing pressure, and this was no different.
"We didn't handle that very well," Wellington coach Jamie Joseph said of the kicking. "In the second half, we ran it and that's the biggest disappointment. Maybe if we'd done that from the start, things might have been different."
Canterbury's plan had been to get on top early. They wanted to play on any anxieties that might emerge based on Wellington's record in finals.
It looked like working when Slade scored a double in the first half, the first inside two minutes when he raced 60m, and Stephen Brett twisted the knife with three penalties.
But Wellington attacked with vigour after the restart. They clearly figured they had to do something different to get back into the match.
It heralded a helter-skelter period, as Wellington tried to force the issue, and they were handed a lifeline when Slade floated up a juicy pass inside his own 22 that Alapati Leuia had no hesitation in devouring.
Sean Maitland looked to have restored order when he and his luminous red boots sliced through some dreadful defence on the hour to score his ninth try this season and extend Canterbury's lead to 25-10. But when Scott Fuglistaller scored in the 74th minute after a sustained Wellington attack, and with Slade in the sin bin, an upset seemed possible.
"It was a bit like shuffling the seats on the Titanic for a while," Canterbury coach Rob Penney said of the anxieties in the coaching box in the final 10 minutes. "Where do we go? What do we do? But the boys adapted brilliantly.
"The red and black theme is about doing it for the team and the boys have bought into it time and time again. It's won the day again."
It was enough for Canterbury to claim the championship for the first time in consecutive years and left Wellington to contemplate another defeat.
It won't be any consolation that, to borrow another Jackson song, it was a Thriller.
Canterbury 28 (C. Slade 2, S. Maitland tries, S. Brett 3 pens, 2 cons)
Wellington 20 (A. Leuia, S Fuglistaller tries, P. Weepu 2 pens, 2 cons). Halftime: 18-3.
