Openside Slade McDowall popped up everywhere and scored two tries in a huge effort.
First five Ben Miller knocked over five conversions and two penalties. His tactical kicking game was influential as well, and he spun the ball wide whenever the occasion permitted.
No 8 and captain Lucas Casey was a menace in the lineout and finished off a tremendous try that effectively settled the contest.
Unheralded locking combination Sidney Fidow and Lachie Stevens played a big role in disrupting Harbour’s lineout and poaching possession.
The Hawks, however, enjoyed utter domination in the scrum.
It was a Rolls-Royce platform. They won a bunch of penalties in that fashion and plugged the corner to set up lineout drives.
But their inability to win their own lineout ball resulted in four or five prime opportunities being squandered.
Kaikorai coach Andrew Hunter said his side put a lot of work into the lineout and it paid off.
"We knew that if we could just cut off quality set-phase ball for them then it would be difficult to play," he said.
"But likewise, they did the same to us at scrum time. So, you know, it wasn’t easy for either team, I would say."
Kaikorai’s hard work in the lineout was rewarded 10 minutes into the second half.
They ran in two quick tries to open up a 14-point buffer.
Industrious Hawks openside Toni Taufa rumbled over to close the gap again.
But Miller replied with a penalty and, from the restart, replacement forward Orlando Tuhega-Vaitupu ran into a huge gap and scampered 40m.
Kaikorai swung the ball right from the breakdown and Casey skipped through a tackle and sprinted 20m to score.
The game looked done at 46-29.
But Harbour rallied through two late tries from replacement winger Mone Samate-Palu.
The second was a cracker. He collected a crossfield kick and crashed over despite the desperate effort from a cover defender.
There was just enough time left on the clock for a restart.
But Kaikorai managed to grab possession and boot it into touch to secure their first banner since 2016.
Harbour coach Peter McIntyre was disappointed with the result. But he also acknowledged Kaikorai’s mastery in the lineout.
He spoke with his side during the halftime break about simplifying it.
"But, yeah, our lineout struggled for the whole game," McIntyre said.
"I think if we’d got that aspect right, and had the rub of the green with maybe some decisions, I think the results would have been different."
Despite losing the final, Harbour had a strong season.
To make the final was a huge improvement on 2024, when they missed the playoffs.
"I’m extremely proud of this group.
"We’ve had our difficult times during the season, but our mantra was just to improve during the season.
"We knew it was always a tight competition. But we’ve got an amazing team culture and you saw that [in the final].
"Our philosophy was to stay in the fight and we stayed in the fight right through to the end, so you can’t ask much more than that, can you?"
Division 1 final
The scores
Kaikorai 46
Slade McDowall 2, Henry Bell, Rawiri Martin, Charlie Breen, Lucas Casey tries; Ben Miller 5 con, 2 pen.
Harbour 41
Mone Samate-Palu 2, Boston Hunt, Jeff Ikani, Aleki Morris-Lome, Toni Taufa, tries; Rique Miln 3 con, pen, Nathan Hastie con.
Halftime: 22-17
For the record
Kaikorai’s 46-41 win over Harbour in the Dunedin division 1 final at Forsyth Barr Stadium sent Otago Daily Times club rugby stats guru Wayne Parsons into a frenzy.
87 is the most points scored in a final. The previously highest combined score in a final was 69 when University beat Taieri 38-31 in 2019.
12 (six each) is the most tries scored in a final. The previous record was 10 when Taieri beat University 40-26 in 2020. Taieri scored six tries to University’s four.
It was Kaikorai’s 15th banner. They were champions in 1888-1889, 1893-99, 1901, 1914, 1921, 1997 and 2016.
It was only the second time a player from each team scored two tries. The first time was in 2019 when Taylor Haugh scored two in University’s 38-31 victory over Taieri. Don Lolo bagged a brace for Taieri that day.
Ben Miller’s 16 points took his season tally to 150 — the most points this season.
Lucas Casey’s try took his season’s tally to 13 — the most tries this season.
