Tears flow from heart of Waikato

Jono Gibbes is in tears as he hugs reserve hooker Scott Linklater after their team's victory. Picture / Greg Bowker

Waikato 37 Wellington 31

As pandemonium erupted all around him, the big man lay on his back on the damp Waikato Stadium turf. He didn't move for some time. Hurt? Exhausted?

"I just wanted to lie there, take a moment and suck it up," Jono Gibbes reflected.

"To be honest, I shed a tear. There's a group of us who've been through a lot of disappointment.

"We've had our frustrations and, to finally nail it, I just wanted to take my time and enjoy it."

If you are in search of the heart of Waikato, look no further than Gibbes and mates such as Marty Holah, resurgent Keith Robinson, captain Steven Bates and the departing David Hill.

Gibbes was there for the losing final against Auckland in Hamilton in 2002, and the semifinal defeats in 2003 and 2004, both against Wellington.

"I've already got a silver medal and that's just a bottle opener in my bar. It doesn't mean anything. Now we've got the right colour, and it's something I've achieved with my mates."

As it happened, the Air New Zealand Cup final was not Waikato's finest performance of the season but it was more than enough against a Wellington team who just didn't fire. The loss of tighthead prop Neemia Tialata was a blow but Wellington will reflect on the fact they didn't get enough out of important members of their side when it really mattered.

Waikato coach Warren Gatland was blunt. He reckons his team were significantly fitter. Had they been playing somewhere close to their optimum, he believes they could have won by up to 30 points. "Yeah, Warren was out to lunch for a little while," was Gibbes' cryptic assessment of Gatland's state at halftime. Translation: he wasn't a happy coach.

He wanted Waikato to play the game at pace. Instead Wellington were able to stay in touch because that rousing speed Waikato have shown earlier in the season was missing.

"Our inaccuracies and mistakes were keeping them in the game," Gatland said. He admitted perhaps he was being overly picky and was clearly rapt with what his players have achieved this season.

"This team has grown a heck of a lot in the last year."

This was a match in which all the relevant numbers favoured Waikato - territory, possession, a whopping 21-8 lineout count, double the rucks and mauls won.

Two Wellington tries in the last five minutes - a second for Ma'a Nonu and one for skipper Tana Umaga, who had an ordinary night - made the margin respectable. Indeed, the visitors could have stolen an improbable win in the final movement of the match had they emulated the French and their celebrated try from the end of the world at Eden Park in 1994.

It was fitting they took the ball into a ruck, but it came out the other side for Liam Messam to gleefully boot it high into the stand.

Heroes? Hill leaves for Bristol this week with a perfect 7/7 goalkicking result and the memory of a brilliant piece of sleight of hand to set up the opening try by Richard Kahui; Byron Kelleher's two tries embellished a strong display in which he completely outplayed his All Black halfback rival Piri Weepu; Robinson's lineout work was an emphatic statement; and Holah was an indefatigable presence at the breakdown.

Wellington coach John Plumtree departs for South Africa a three-time final loser - 2003, 2004 and Saturday - and on his trip to join the Sharks in Durban he'll ponder what went wrong. The bracing, abrasive style which took them past Canterbury and Auckland in recent weeks was missing.

Rodney So'oialo had a strong game, Jerry Collins was not far behind, Nonu bagged a couple of tries, one off a clever So'oialo line break, the other from a smart offload in a tackle by Chris Masoe. But Waikato's defence for the most part was secure.

Their bench was better too, through the likes of Messam, who replaced a limping Sione Lauaki at halftime, and replacement halfback Brendon Leonard. Leonard made it a memorable night for the No 9s, with a fine try, combining strength and eel-like qualities to get through three tackles to score Waikato's final try.

The romantics might have liked Waikato to have saved their best until last. But finals are about getting to the finish line with more points than the other lot. Waikato won the first national title with a knockout system in 1992 and now they've won the first under the enlarged 14-team format.

A few weeks ago, Gibbes was contemplating moving to Wales at the end of the cup. After this, he quipped, "that would have been pretty hard to get up for".