Rugby: Celebration for Tasman as dejected Auckland falls short in Miter 10 Cup Premiership final

When running back Finlay Christie ran out of time to watch Tasman win his second straight 10 Miter Cup Premiership title, the excitement of the season was evident on both sides.

The Mako players chased after their runner with raised hands before forming a pile of red and navy blue dogs; Aucklandites could do nothing but stand with their heads down and their hands on their knees.

The two played a brutal encounter at Eden Park, and the score of 13-12 in favor of Mako was equally brutal on the home team, who had opened the doors to fans, free of charge, to thank them for their support this season. that at the beginning of the year many hoped would never happen.

“I know we couldn’t do it so apologies,” Auckland captain Angus Ta’avao said, addressing the crowd after the match.

“Two yellow cards, some easy outs against a good team like Tasman, against any team really, it’s going to cost you, so we’re disappointed that it got to this end.

“I just felt like we didn’t have many opportunities to play the right parts of the field and that was due to our discipline. But you look at the heart and some of the shots that were being made on both sides, it was one of those games.”

There was only one try scored in the match, through Tasmanian hooker Quentin MacDonald at the edge of halftime, rumbling from a lineout after a penalty that saw Ta’avao thrown away.

In a match where both sides struggled to assert their dominance and give their attacking weapons room to move, any chance to score points turned to gold, and Tasmania captain David Havili did not drop by his side since the tee with a conversion and two penalties. goals to his name.

As Havili explained after the game, for Tasman, being able to claim his second title in as many years says a lot about the state of the union.

“We had to dig deep,” Havili said. “We lost a lot of players to injuries, a lot of players to greater honors, and at the beginning of the year we told ourselves that we would have to deepen our team. We’ve done it this year and it’s great because we’re building a lot of depth for the future.”

Given the uncertainty of the season earlier in the year, there was a lot of excitement on each team, and with the All Blacks playing during the same period, it allowed the depth of their team to shine through.

No player did it more than winger Leicester Fainga’anuku, who was the team’s best attacking option throughout the Premiership campaign.

Fainga’anuku expressed his pride in the team.

“The Auckland team, man, they definitely gave us what we expected. It was a hard 80 and my body feels it,” he said.

“With the players that we have, and the responsibility they took on every week during the season to be able to recover and get their body back to 100% for the following week, it has been enormous. I can’t thank them enough and it obviously showed in the result here. Happy Days “.