Tearful bonding
An emotional bonding session on the eve of the Farah Palmer Cup final laid the platform for Waikato’s historic triumph over Canterbury on Saturday afternoon.
Tears flowed as they went around the room, opening up to each other at the end of a tough week, in which they were forced to twice relocate – first from Hamilton and then from Cambridge – with Covid-19 restrictions closing in on them.
‘‘We had a real big connection piece where everyone said what they had to give up. There was lots of tears ... we had girls telling stories about their lives that they had never told,’’ Waikato coach James Semple said after his team edged Canterbury 22-20 in the final in Christchurch.
‘‘It definitely brought us closer. It epitomised just dying for each other, dying for your sister out there, getting off the ground.’’
Waikato, playing without nine Black Ferns, sure resembled a tight-knit bunch before, during and after their first national provincial title win.
They say defence wins championships, and theirs did just that, as they repeatedly held out Canterbury during a decisive first half, in which the home side couldn’t cash in their possession and territory with a healthy wind at their backs at Rugby Park.
Having performed a haka prematch, they celebrated with another post-match, there was also a plethora of hugs, singing, dancing, and more tears.
No 8 Victoria Edmonds, playing in her 50th match, even dropped two f-bombs on live television in an emotional outburst.
‘‘The road to get here has been really difficult, it’s been a roller coaster, and we could see that with the girls, we’ve been up and down. But we really focus on the mental health side of things, just really focusing on that connection and well-being and being able to open up,’’ captain Chyna Hohepa said.
‘‘The girls were stuck in isolation for the week together, and they had to leave families and babies, so the stuff that we go through is pretty hard. But we
were really connected and that’s really helped us get through.’’
Hohepa, who stepped in as captain for Chelsea Alley, one of nine Waikato Black Ferns stripped from the crunch end of the competition due to a prenorthern tour training camp, also spoke of the importance of a ‘‘wellness hour’’.
‘‘There is a wellness hour around 10 o’clock. You can come along, it’s not compulsory, but every single person showed up. Even our manager. They came in, they took their hats off, and it’s just a really safe environment to open up. It just shows how tight we are.’’
That was again crucial when it became apparent the team’s national representatives wouldn’t complete the Covid-19 delayed competition.
No other side lost as many Black Ferns as Waikato, including four-times defending champions Canterbury (six).
‘‘Losing them was tough, but we had faith that we could still do it,’’ Hohepa said.
‘‘I think we’ve got such good diversity, and there is so much depth in our region that we were comfortable that we could get the job done.’’
That they did, not only overcoming a tumultuous week as Covid-19 closed in on them like a vice, but overcoming the red and black machine which has dominated the competition for almost half a decade.
‘‘Ohh, we’re definitely going to make the most of level 2 tonight ... we’ve been waiting for so long, so it’s going to be a little bit crazy.’’
Manawatu too strong
The Manawatū Cyclones completed their dominance of the Farah Palmer Cup championship with a comfortable win in the final over the Hawke’s Bay Tui.
Manawatū won 55-12 at CET Arena in Palmerston North on Saturday, rounding out an unbeaten season in the secondtier championship.
The Cyclones had too much ball and threats out wide for Hawke’s Bay, who were enterprising on attack and made a couple of half breaks, but just didn’t have enough possession.
Manawatū could have won by more if not for dropped passes and mistakes, but had things under control for most of the match.