Taihape celebrate the first WRFU union-wide club championship for their community since the early 1980's, after beating Border in extra time at Cooks Gardens.
What. A. Game.
As advertised, Byford's Readimix Taihape and Waverley Harvesting Border have topped themselves with another incredible Tasman Tanning Division 1 championship final at Cooks Gardens today – all 100 minutes of it.
And this time, the history books will smile on Taihape, who clawed their way back from a horror start to deadlock the match 26-26 by fulltime, before their gutsy forward pack combined to go over for what proved the match-winning try in the first period of extra time, 31-26.
Once again delivering in a "road game", the underdogs held on to claim the championship for their boisterous throng of supporters, who have been waiting patiently for a top grade title since the pre-amalgamation Huia club were victorious in the early 1980's.
The favourites Border, in their fourth grand final in five years, were outstanding right from the opening kickoff with two skilful attacking tries from great offloads down the left hand side of the Guyton St end for 14-0, which became 20-11 after a furious opening quarter of rugby as Taihape got their feet underneath them and began to fight their way back.
The Taihape pack, led from the front foot by flanker Matt Brown, should all take a bow for a courageous 100 minute effort – they literally played till they dropped.
Tryscoring lock Peter Travis Hay-Horton and indomitable prop Wiremu Cottrell were first-class performers with constant hit-ups and inspiring defence, especially when linchpin hooker Dylan Gallien had to come off with a leg injury.
Their respective partners in Hadlee Hay-Horton in the front row and Hoani Woodhead at lock never quit, while No 8 Tremaine Gilbert set up their opening try and was the embodiment of composure during the second extra time period with his team trying to kill the clock with one-off carries.
Reserve loose forward Regan Collier got on late to continue the strong lineout work, while cult favourite reserve prop Ritchie Iorns has a story he can dine out on for the rest of his life after being driven over for Taihape's second half try, and then stepping down the blindside to score in extra time.
For Border, after their opening barrage they remained vowed and determined to use the width of the park, with first-five Nick Harding and centre Craig Clare firing wide passes to lightning winger Vereniki Tikoisolomone, who looked dangerous with every touch of the ball.
But using the sideline, Taihape stopped the Border flyer, second-five Jaye Flaws moving to the wing, while up front, Taihape's pressure at scrum time and in the air on the lineouts was beginning to tell.
Border halfback and skipper Lindsay Horrocks had another blinder in the face of adversity, creating opportunities while on the back foot and providing perfect passes to set up both a legal try to Clare and then a disallowed second-half try to Tikoisolomone, which in a massive moment was called back for a Taihape penalty after lock Jack Hodges was ruled to have head-locked Brown during the rolling maul.
Again in a playoffs match, Border would rue some ill-discipline, as referee Ben Lourie brought the whistle down on both teams, but despite Taihape kicker Dane Whale (four from nine) not having the accuracy of Harding (six from eight), the centre and his team made better momentum working off tactical kicks and set piece when the whistle went their way.
Much like in the semifinal win over McCarthy's Transport Ruapehu, it was a vital Brown lineout steal and then Border not getting their final throw-in straight, right down in the attacking corner, which saw Taihape home.
"I'm not going to lie, I was a little worried at 14-0," said jubilant coach Tom Wells, who put to rest the demons of 2016's heartbreaking loss in their previous final against Border.
"Talk about forwards, once they got in the game it was all over.
"Fair play to Border, but we wore them down. The pick [and go] was awesome."
Wells had delayed using many reserve forwards late in the second half when the prospect of extra time loomed, despite the fluctuating scoreline as Whale and Harding traded kicks and misses.
"We've got good guys on the bench, but who do you pull off from the eight?"
Laughing that double tryscorer Iorns will now be insufferable, Wells really wanted to single out Cottrell as player of the season – being a leader both on and off the field.
"He'll never have to buy a beer if I'm in the pub.
"[It's] emotional, man, these guys have written history. They're a special group of boys.
"The first Taihape team to get their names on the Rosebowl Trophy."
For history to happen, someone had to be on the other side, yet Border coach Ross Williams was nothing but gracious in his assessment.
"Congratulations to them, they won the big moments and played the smarter footy in the back end.
"They are the ones with the medals. This is great for their community, as it was for ours.
"We were written off after Kaierau beat us at the start of the second round, but I'm proud we stuck in and went hard. It's just finals football."
With a solid core of loyal players, Border will be here again, he said.
"We've got such a great club and the boys feel tied to the club. The majority will be coming back."
It was looking like a rout early as Border had scored twice in less than six minutes – first turning over the kickoff and attacking down the blindside through young flanker Jason Myers.
Horrocks then went for a dart and with perfect timing, offloaded back inside for Clare to run in untouched.
Getting a turnover on defence from a Taihape carry off their scrum, Horrocks fed speedy winger Tom Symes, who kicked ahead and raced up to charge down Taihape fullback Tyler Rogers-Holden's attempted clearance.
Symes regained the loose ball and fed a charging Hodges, who in turn offloaded in front of the posts for No 8 Chris Breuer to dive across.
Staying calm, Taihape got back to their game with tactical kick pressure and the mobile pack contesting the breakdown, which earned an offside penalty for Whale to get them on the board in the ninth minute.
Whale and Harding then traded successful penalties over the next eight minutes, and despite Border's attack patterns now being read by Taihape, it seemed their lightning start might still prove decisive at 20-6.
Big hit-ups by Gallien and Cottrell brought Taihape deep on attack, and after the ball was spread to the Bell Tower corner, Gilbert attacked on the fringe and made the perfect offload to a motoring Rogers-Holden to dive in at the flag.
Taihape worked forward off a shallow Border clearing kick, as Cottrell made another powerful charge up the guts and at the breakdown, Peter Travis Hay-Horton scooped the ball and parted defenders like Moses at the Red Sea – running under the posts for 20-18 after 28 minutes.
After such a furious opening on an unseasonably warm day, the pace had to slow, as both sides engaged in a kicking duel and a little bit of angry jersey-waltzing before halftime.
Whale had a couple of chances to put his team back in front from the left side of the park, but put them outside the nearest post, while Harding's boot temporarily deserted him as well.
However, after Tikoisolomone's try was called back, Border worked back through their loose forwards in Angus Middleton and Myers, getting another penalty chance for Harding to readjust his sights from the opposite side of the posts for 23-18.
Taihape immediately responded as Whale made a big call to turn down kickable points for the sideline, and off a Collier lineout take, the inside backs rushed in to join the pack drive as Border's line disintegrated for Iorns to score under the heap.
Again, Whale left his kick wide, and Taihape went to sleep by missing the kickoff and getting penalised, allowing Harding to put Border straight back in front in the 63rd minute.
A long Horrocks run from the scrum nearly put Tikoisolomone away, but the cover just scragged him as he juggled the pass, and from their own 20m, Taihape's forwards worked up off the whistle to put Whale on a slightly better angle than his previous misses, and this time he snuck the ball inside the far upright for 26-all with nine minutes left.
Both sides were feeling the pressure with overthrown lineouts, kicks missing touch or finding touch from outside the 22m, and with time ticking away, Whale had another penalty chance looking into the sun from the far side, but couldn't connect.
Two exhausted teams steeled themselves for an extra 20 minutes, but it was Taihape who found their second wind after Myers was penalised for a tip tackle.
Working down into a 22m lineout, reserve halfback James Barrett linked with reserve back Sefo Bourke to attack the tryline, and then Iorns went blindside to step the last despairing cover dive and score after six minutes.
The Taihape pack kept the pressure on, turning Border's scrums while Barrett hounded Horrocks, until a relieving penalty let Border get out of jail not long before the 10 minute break.
Despite many in their pack now limping or feeling the hard knocks, Taihape just kept up the one-off carries after Rogers-Holden had covered a Harding chip kick, as the clock slowly began to tick down again.
A penalty let them work into the attacking half, but then a rare Border lineout steal was followed by a penalty to get down into the 30m area with three minutes left.
But a Brown lineout steal and Hay-Horton charge saw Taihape get clear, and although they were pinged again at the breakdown, Border's final throw not being straight brought a fantastic season finale to a close.
Taihape 31 (R Iorns 2, T Rogers-Holden, P Hay-Horton tries; D Whale 3 pen, con) bt Border 26 (C Clare, C Breuer tries; N Harding 4 pen, 2 con) after extra time. HT: 20-18 Border. FT: 26-26.
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