Head coach Brendan Nolan said the moment the final whistle blew was “surreal”.
“It was a little bit of an out of body experience, the way it sort of happened and just walking towards the team.
“There was just so much love in the air and care.”
In what was a back-and-forth game, lock Bill Fukofuka’s try with 14 minutes to go stretched Linwood’s lead to 39-27 – and despite UC hitting back through Jae Broomfield seven minutes later, Linwood never looked like conceding again.
“When we got in the right areas of the field, we backed ourselves and believed in our game plan,” said Nolan.
“We stuck true to what we were good at.”
When Linwood sat 10th on the ladder with a 2-6 record and three rounds remaining, winning the competition looked improbable. But Nolan said they never stopped believing.
“We didn’t have any doubt about where we were heading, but we just stayed real narrow.
“We weren’t looking too far ahead and, yeah, we just kept stepping up.”
A loss in any one of their last seven games would have seen them crashing out of the competition.
Along the way, they beat Lincoln University twice, both of last year’s finalists HSOB and Marist Albion, and UC – who topped the regular-season table the past two years.
Nolan said what the club had achieved probably hadn’t sunken in yet.
“People are just sort of reminding us what we’ve done, but it’s like I’ve said every week, we’ve just been going week to week.
“But just looking back at it now, it’s like, holy heck, what a ride.”
He said the support from the community had been immense, with codes in the area getting behind them too.
“There was the (Linwood) Keas down there, the Eastern Eagles, it was just a big movement, there was something like 500 people at the club before we left.
“It was worth the seven points (winning margin), it got us over the line for sure.
“Everywhere you looked (on Sunday) there was green and black, there was people smiling.
“When we came out of the changing rooms we had seven or eight buses that waited for us and were full of Linwood supporters, and just that alone, it was fantastic.”
Modern-day waka a driving force behind unity
A key part of Linwood’s success has been its bus.
At first glance, the Linwood Bulls rugby bus appears to be an outdated green metal relic. But it has become a key piece of their modern identity.
Former player and now a member of the management team, Nick Inkster, is the driving force behind the bus.
“When I played under 17s at Linwood, we looked up to the senior team. They had a bus, so part of my plan was to bring one back because I believed that the team’s strength back then was largely due to their bus,” he said.
Mt Hutt ski bus, was purchased by Inkster and 11 other
Linwood stakeholders for $10,000 four years ago.
However, Inkster is clear: “It (the bus) isn’t an investment.”
Since acquiring the bus, it has cost its owners around $50,000 in maintenance and repairs, including a fresh full-body wrap.
Of this, $30,000 went towards a reconditioned motor after the engine failed during a pre-season trip to Queenstown.
Despite the expense, Inkster says the team saw “the bigger picture . . . The bus is at Linwood forever.”
“The goal was to get this bus and to get it to the grand final, the first time (the club has) since 2009 . . . It’s created togetherness for Linwood Rugby Club.”
Said Samson Lale-Seinafo, who has earned 100 caps for Linwood: “Even when you don’t win, you’re still on the bus. It links with our team theme of ‘we’re all on the same waka’. It’s good for team culture and keeps everyone together.”
Since the bus’ introduction to the club, the Linwood Bulls’ on-field performances have significantly improved, with this season being their best in over a decade.
The bus has been attributed to the Bulls achieving the second-best away record in the Metro premier grade, with a 75 per cent win rate on the road this year.
The back of the bus pays tribute to eight Linwood All Blacks, including Richie Mo’unga, Owen and Ben Franks, and Tane Norton.
Linfield Sports Club business manager and a useful Linwood player in his day, Paul Kench, praised the decals as a way to “show the world some history of Linwood Rugby.”
-Reporting Joshua Vergeest
