EXTRA TIME THRILLER
Auckland provincial champions after 100 minutes of pulsating action
They came in their thousands to Eden Park, braved the heavy rain which began midway through the first half, and were rewarded with an extra-time classic — Auckland winning their first national provincial title since 2007 at the end of an extraordinary 100-minute match.
This Mitre 10 Cup Premiership final, enjoyed to the fullest by a crowd of 20,130 who took advantage of free entry, was in danger of being a procession as Canterbury had seemingly grabbed Auckland by the scruff of the neck in the first half.
That Auckland turned it around was a credit to their resilience, composure and defence. Canterbury, targeting their 10th title in 11 years, played their part, too, but couldn’t crack the Blue and Whites when it mattered.
The emotional celebrations when the final whistle sounded showed exactly what it meant to the hosts.
The competition pace-setters had done it. Auckland coach Alama Ieremia had warned his side this would be easily their toughest match of the season and it certainly was that.
“We’ve been talking about respect for the last two weeks,” said Ieremia. “For me, personally, getting this team to be top of the table with two weeks to go, to me that earned respect, too.
“For a team that hasn’t played finals rugby for a long time, I was immensely proud of how they’ve grown as men.
“Tactically, I’m very proud of how they’ve controlled games and how they’ve fought their way back.
“There are a lot of teams that probably would have broken under the pressure that scoreboard had. And it is Canterbury. But it didn’t faze them and they came out firing. To claw your way back in extra-time and to win, and the way they won — full of energy — they could probably have gone a couple of extra minutes.
“They gave everything, and for me as a coach, that’s all I wanted — for the boys to die for the jersey and there were a lot of dead bodies there at the end, so I’m very proud of them.”
Canterbury skipper Mitchell Drummond, off to join the All Blacks in Japan, said: “We had a lot of momentum going into halftime. We were in a good place. They’ve got some pretty lethal boys that when they get into our 22m, they’re tough to stop, and I think they proved that.”
The visitors had gone to a good lead thanks to a penalty try from a collapsed maul — which resulted in a yellow card for Akira Ioane — and a nicely-worked one for new All Black George Bridge who went in by the posts.
It was apparently game over, the Canterbury machine doing what it does best.
And yet Auckland, who lost loosehead prop Sam Prattley to a head injury after five minutes, refused to yield. Ieremia talked during the week of bringing the respect back in terms of rugby in the city and here it was proof positive.
Auckland coped superbly with Ioane’s absence, scored a try through midfielder Tumua Manu in virtually their only attack of the first half and then completely turned the tables and a 20-7 halftime deficit in the second half. A superbly-converted Caleb Clarke try 10 minutes from regular time allowed them to draw level at 26-26.
Ioane, a force again at No 8, and Faiane were the instigators but Auckland had heroes across the park as they completely changed the rhythm of the match, and, roared on by an increasingly vocal crowd, did the seemingly impossible.
Tries for Ioane and Jordan Trainor put Auckland within seven points before Clarke’s try in the left corner and Harry Plummer’s composed conversion from the sideline.
Auckland should have nailed it in the final seconds as they piled on the pressure only to cough up the ball at the end and the match went into 20 minutes of extra time.
Replacement prop Mike SoseniFeagai’s converted try cancelled out Tom Sanders’ effort for Canterbury to lock the score at 33-33 after the first 10 minutes.
In the end, a try for replacement halfback Leon Fukofuka, over for the seven-pointer with the game clock reading 93 minutes, broke the deadlock and Auckland hung on for a famous victory.
Auckland 40 (T. Manu, A. Ioane, J. Trainor, C. Clarke, M. Soseni-Feagai, L. Fukofuka tries; H. Plummer 5 cons) Canterbury 33 (G. Bridge, T. Sanders tries, penalty try; B. Cameron 4 pens, 2 cons). Halftime: Canterbury 20-7.