The South Canterbury Rugby Heartland team set all sorts of records as they beat Whanganui by 40-30 in an enthralling Meads Cup final played on a hot but windy day at a resplendent looking Temuka Oval.
The victory (the fourth in a row over Whanganui) was the 500th first-class win for the South Canterbury Union and they equalled Whanganui as the only teams to have won three titles in a row while continuing their record of 31 unbeaten matches on the trot.
South Canterbury’s Zac Saunders, with his children in tow, led his team on to the field to celebrate his 50th cap and once the national anthem was over the teams began to tear into each other.
After just seven minutes a head-high tackle resulted in SC’s Zach Mackay leaving the field for a head injury assessment but luckily he passed and was able to return to the field later, where he had plenty of influence.
Whanganui scored first with a penalty to first-five Dane Whale and soon after extended their lead with a try. SC responded with two penalties of their own to narrow the scoreline to 6-8, but then Whale — who had a big influence on the Whanganui team — scored out wide to stretch the lead.
A strong cross-wind meant that plenty of defensive and attacking kicking options were available and SC first-five Sam Briggs proved to be the best at this as he peeled off huge territory when he made a 50/20 clearance.
The kick seemed to give South Canterbury the impetus to step into another gear as Loni Toumohuni scored a try then winger Kalavini Leatigaga scored his first of two as South Canterbury piled on 17 points in 11 minutes to take a good lead of 23-15 into the halftime break.
The old saying about scoring before and after halftime stood up as Leatigaga made a break with good support from his fullback Liueli Simote, who eventually scored just 30 seconds into the second half to extend that lead.
Whanganui showed why they have been in so many finals over the years as they came back with a try and a penalty to narrow the gap to 28-23 but by now the South Canterbury machine was working in unison as the loose forwards and locks combined to make good damaging runs, leading to a try to co-captain Willie Wright to push the gap out further.
Whanganui — who could not be put away like other teams this season — scored a good try of their own and converted it to close the scores to 33-30 with 13 minutes to play.
Both teams now had multiple subs as some very tired players came off after a huge effort. This was the catalyst for the SC scrum to create some more momentum, and with the lineout functioning well all day attacking opportunities continued to appear. A try to sub Solomone Lavaka sealed Whanganui’s fate and South Canterbury made sure they could not get out of their own territory for the final five minutes to take the cup.
Unfortunately, one incident with over-zealous South Canterbury supporters marred what had been a great spectacle when they came on to the field inside the security rope to congratulate the South Canterbury try scorer and then hung around amidst the Whanganui team when there were still five minutes of play left.
Nigel Walsh and his coaching team were very proud of their team’s achievements, including all 30 members of the squad this season who had put in the effort, the energy, the excitement, the commitment and the dedication to the group.
The players, coaches and managers were presented with their medals and the Meads Cup by Kelvin Meads, son of Colin Meads, and Matt Cooper representing NZ Rugby.
It was a fantastic way to finish the season, which should result in good local representation in the NZ Heartland team to be selected soon.
