Second-five Rube Peina scored two second-half tries to guide his team to a 34-25 win over Cromwell Goats in an epic contest.
Peina recreated what he specialised at all season — bewildering otherwise stout defensive lines with penetrating runs to give his team five-pointers at vital moments.
He opened up the semifinal against Upper Clutha with two great solo tries the weekend before and broke Cromwell fans’ hearts with his skills, when they were most needed, on Saturday.
The forecast rain and snow bypassed Queenstown on Saturday afternoon, giving the players ideal conditions for this final, which attracted a large crowd. What a contest it became!
Cromwell led 3-0, 10-3, 13-10 and 18-17 at various stages of the first half before Eamon O’Brien, who didn’t miss a kick all afternoon, landed a simple penalty goal to give Wakatipu a 20-18 advantage at the break after 40 minutes of pulsating rugby.
When Peina scored the first of his two tries five minutes into the second half, with the Goats down to 14 players after their centre had been sin-binned, taking them to 27-18, it looked as if Wakatipu would cruise to victory.
But the Goats, who know how to win finals, weren’t having any of that.
They too had a man in the No12 jersey possessed of the X-factor, Daniel Hurring, who scored a memorable try after a sustained period of attack by the Goats.
Ben Maxwell’s conversion reduced the deficit to two points with 12 minutes to play.
At that point Wakatipu’s coach Brett Anderson admits he was beside himself.
"I was worried enough when we were nine points ahead," he said. "When it became two points — Oh hell, I was troubled! The Goats are a team that won’t go away."
Come in ... well, come back in ... Rube Peina. After a mistake from the kick-off by the Goats, he suddenly found himself in possession inside the 22. A deft chip kick that was clumsily misjudged by a Cromwell defender allowed Peina to regain the ball and dot down beside the posts. This was his 10th try of the season and the team’s 77th in 11 matches.
With eight minutes remaining, and the score at 27-18, that was effectively, game, set and match, although the gutsy men from Cromwell, summoning their last reserves of energy, appeared to score a late try from a lineout, until the referee brought them back for a minor infringement.
This was a cracking final, Wakatipu’s first since 2017. They won then, they won again now, but with nothing to spare.
Besides Peina’s freakish ability to snare tries when most needed, the side’s other match-winning advantage was provided by goalkicker Eamon O’Brien, who slotted all six attempts, a couple of them from near touch.
James Valentine gave another classy display from halfback, which included scoring a well conceived set piece try, Brooke Wilson was all dash on the wing and there were mighty 80-minute up-front efforts from skipper Steven Banks, No8 Bradley Cross and lock Toby Higgins.
The Goats were gallant losers. However, skipper Maxwell, all class at halfback, bemoaned the fact his team made a couple of serious mistakes in their 22 and gave away "silly" penalties.
"Against a quality side like Wakatipu, you can’t do that," he said.
Cromwell’s star individual was "Boof" Hurring, who has been a revelation since being converted from flanker to midfielder where he consistently broke through Wakatipu’s tight defence.
Up the front there were mighty performances from try-scoring lock Stefan Blakeborough front-rowers Alex Chubb and Jackson Clark.
Central Otago final
The scores
Wakatipu 34
Rube Peina 2, James Valentine, Brooke Wilson tries; Eamon O’Brien 4 con, 2 pen
Cromwell Goats 25
Stefan Blakeborough, Kailova Rata, Daniel Hurring tries; Ben Maxwell 2 con, 2 pen
Halftime: Wakatipu 20-18.
-- Bob Howitt
