"I felt we were defending the whole first half, we didn't have much pill, but we turned things around in the second, got a few points and backed ourselves up front. But I guess our discipline let us down in the end."
It did, though referee Glen Jackson, in his first Mitre 10 Cup under the new breakdown rules, heavily pinged both sides in a stop-start contest. The final penalty was for an unspecified breakdown infringement and Jackson Garden-Bachop, who had earlier duffed at least two penalty goal attempts, nailed the 48m winner to the delight of the Wellington squad, who had been hearing all week how Lomu was a Counties man through and through.
"Jonah's done so much for Counties rugby and rugby as a whole. I thought we prepared really well. The good thing is that it's up for grabs in the future," Tupou says.
For a time it looked like the decision to have the Steelers wearing the old school 1990 jerseys was an inspired one. The fairytale would have been Sherwin Stowers scoring the first, or winning, try. But fairytales do not always come true. Lomu's family, several of whom were on hand, would understand that.
There is little time for the Steelers to brood. On Wednesday night Taranaki come to Pukekohe, and they will give no quarter in the pack.
"Our priority is recovery, not so much on the field. It's more of a mental week for us, so we'll be excited to get in front of our fans again on Wednesday night," says Tupou.
We will see which Steelers team turns up.
