Mako crowned cup kings at last
Tasman Mako have finally bagged their maiden national provincial title at the fourth attempt, completing a remarkable unbeaten season.
The Mako overpowered Wellington 31-14 at Nelson’s Trafalgar Park last evening, putting to bed the anguish of losing three previous final deciders.
No wonder Tasman’s raw emotion was on show when Will Jordan sealed the memorable win with a 79th minute try, no doubt sparking celebrations across the Crusaders’ catchment at the top of the South Island.
Becoming the 10th side in the country to get their hands on the trophy was a fitting way to farewell a handful of Mako men, no more so than retiring former All Blacks loosehead prop Wyatt Crockett and Crusaders loose forward Jordan Taufua.
It was Crockett who made two huge defensive plays on his own goal-line as Wellington bashed away in the final quarter, twice pilfering ball at the breakdown to extinguish ominous raids.
They say defence wins championships, so Jordan’s try-saving tackle in the 60th minute on Vince Aso, who had picked off a pass and was well on his way to pulling Wellington to within a converted try, also deserves a mention.
So Tasman, promoted into the premiership after winning the championship in 2013, and having lost the 2014, 2016 and 2017 finals, completed an unbeaten season to become the first team since Auckland (2007) to do so.
That said, unlike the majority of their previous 11 wins, they didn’t have it all their way against a fired-up Wellington outfit who were embarrassed by Tasman in round one.
The second-seeds, chasing their fifth title – and first since 2000 – were without a doubt the better side for large patches of the match, rattling the Mako with a string of vicious hits, and causing all sorts of problems for the home side through the likes of powerful wing Ben Lam.
But they could not finish their chances, and probably need not look beyond the first 25 minutes when they go searching for answers to their demise.
The Lions were sloppy out of the gates, conceding two soft tries and leaving points on the field as they fell into an early 23-6 hole.
First-five eighths Jackson Garden-Bachop missed two penalties and a conversion off the tee, allowing Tasman’s ill discipline inside their own 22 to go largely unpunished.
If that was frustrating for the three-times champions, imagine how they felt when they collected their thoughts under the sticks after allowing Tasman wing Jordan
to split a couple of defenders and scoot 25 metres to score the game’s opening try.
But it got worse. Aso coughed up a restart and before he could kick himself Tasman fullback David Havili touched down and Tasman had surged out to a 17-point lead.
Mitch Hunt, who put Havili over, was the opposite to the wayward Garden-Bachop off the tee, banging over all five of his attempts in the first 40 minutes.
But by the time the teams trotted into the sheds for a breather, Wellington had pulled to within nine points and were all over the Mako.
The break could not come soon enough for the hosts, given Wellington had 79 per cent of possession and 83% of territory, forcing Tasman to make 97 tackles to Wellington’s 23 in the first spell.
Prop Alex Fidow smashed over for the Lions’ only fivepointer, while three GardenBachop penalties accounted for the remainder of their haul.
If only workhorse lock James Blackwell got a decent bounce of the ball and was able to punish Tasman for a poor Finlay Christie pass deep inside his own 22m.