He Tauaa set record with fifth title
He Tauaa won a record fifth consecutive Southland rugby league title in-a-row on Saturday with a 43-34 victory over the Cowboys at Sandy Point.
The triumph bettered the He Tauaa club’s Southland record run from 1987 till 1990, which they equalled with their 2016 title.
‘‘It feels good, there was probably a bit of pressure there on the boys, knowing they could get that record five-in-a-row,’’ He Tauaa coach Moses Fa’amoe-Ioane said.
The win came just two weeks after the Cowboys pipped He Tauaa in the first round of the playoffs, but according to Fa’amoeIoane that result helped to motivate the defending champions.
‘‘I think it was a good upfront battle in the forwards, they just had to battle hard amongst themselves, it was just who could get on top of the other so, our forwards played awesome all game really,’’ he said.
‘‘We [He Tauaa] had a bit of a point to prove from the last time we played, because the Cowboys forwards probably dominated ours and we [He Tauaa] proved it yesterday [Saturday] and got on top of them [Cowboys].’’
‘‘I think I only interchanged them once throughout the game, that is just how much they wanted to play, they didn’t want to be on the sideline.’’
The Cowboys got out of the blocks quickly and scored early before He Tauaa responded with a brace of tries to take the lead in the first half.
He Tauaa dominated the early stages of the second half, until a Cowboys onslaught midway through the second half made for an exciting finish.
A late He Tauaa try stretched the lead to eight points, before Jayleel Fa’amoe-Ioane kicked a drop goal to take the lead to nine points as He Tauaa looked to close the game out and re-gain possession from the kickoff.
Moses Fa’amoe-Ioane was impressed by the quality of the game between Southland’s top two teams, which featured a number of Southland Rams representative players.
‘‘Both teams went out there with good intensity, I guess again it was who held onto the ball the longest I suppose, is what got them through,’’ he said.
The He Tauaa players will have a week off to rest their niggling injuries, before they start preparing to host the Otago grand final winner’s Kia Toa on July 15, in the combined Otago/Southland competition final, after the Tigers defeated the East Coast Eagles 52-20 in the Otago competition final on Saturday.