He Tauaa show they are in a league of their own
He Tauaa overcame a slow start to win the Otago Southland combined rugby league competition final 58-26 over the Kia Toa Tigers at Sandy Point on Saturday.
The Southland champions conceded two early tries, which were nicely converted by the Otago champions to take a 12-0 lead.
But He Tauaa showed just why they have won the Southland title for the last five years straight to the delight of coach Moses Fa’amoe-Ioane, after they were stung into action.
‘‘They all played well, I think our forwards dominated, ran some great lines, we got off to a bad start a couple of mistakes, let them score two tries and once the boys got their act together it was good,’’ he said.
According to Moses Fa’amoeIoane, the dry surface at the Sandy Point field allowed his team to play with width, which suited their style of game.
‘‘Our boys were just running through them and hitting them out-wide with our big boys, they just couldn’t keep up with it, getting their big boys tired,’’ he said. ’’It got them tired pretty quick and made it a quick game, which was good for us.’’
He Tauaa bounced back and scored from an-up-and-underkick and then started to put together a combination of strong hit ups and defence to put the pressure on Kia Toa.
The home team scored four He Tauaa 58 Kia Toa Tigers 26. more tries to assert their authority on the game, before Kia Toa used their big forwards to cross over the line just before halftime. He Tauaa continued to pile on the points in the second half, to run out comfortable winners.
Shaun Tamariki Todd produced a standout performance for the Invercargill club, while Javaan Fa’amoe-Ioane and Sam Pokere, who moved from the wing to fill the big boots of Jayleel Fa’amoe-Ioane at half- back directed the play well.
Lucas Pikia bagged a hattrick as part of a solid display at fullback for He Tauaa. The win was the icing on the cake for He Tauaa who won all but one match throughout the entire season, with a golden point loss to the Cowboys in a playoff game.