Tawa win Hardham Cup final in a thriller

Tawa are the 2011 Hardham Cup champions after beating Old Boys-University 25-20 in the final at Fraser Park on Saturday afternoon.

And they did so in a thriller - holding off wave after wave of OBU attack close to their own tryline in a desperate five minutes of rugby for both sides at the end of the match. A fast-finishing OBU threw everything at Tawa at the end in an attempt to score the try that would have locked up the scores with either a fulltime conversion or a period of extra time to come to decide the outcome.

With the season on the line, neither side gave up and it appeared that OBU had finally cracked the whitewash deep into injury time after Tawa had conceded a flurry of penalties in this final period of play. But one final turnover at the bottom of a ruck from Tawa's gallant forwards signalled the end of the match and they celebrated in style.

Tawa had previously broken the game open late in the first half with two quick tries, the second a sensational solo effort to replacement left wing George Tilsley, who danced with the touchline and beat two covering defenders before sprinting away to score an 85 metre try.

Their forwards had then taken control in the first 20 minutes of the second half, culminating in their third try to big hearted lock Pati Gaualofa to give them a decisive 25-8 lead.

But OBU found the composure and accuracy that was missing from their game earlier and roared back into the contest. First with a converted try to halfback Nick Kavanagh to close the gap to 25-15 on about the 65 minute mark. Second with an unconverted try in the corner to prop Mitch Andrews with about five minutes of running time remaining and with Tawa reduced to 14 men for the second time in the match with lock Brian Burridge cooling off behind his own posts.

Now in the ascendancy, the students pressed hard to for the win that must surely now come for them, but Tawa, somehow, held on to the end to take the spoils.

Tawa coach Graeme Ross was hugely proud of his team's performance at the end

"We're all delighted with that effort from the team. Our defence at the end on our line was terrific and something we can be really be proud of," said Ross.

"Scoring those tries late in the first half that gave us the lead was a big boost going into halftime. I then thought the way our forwards played in the first 15 minutes of the second was outstanding. That's the way we've been playing over the past month and those tactics of keeping it tight and driving worked again for us again today," he added.

Ross was especially proud of his young players that all stood up in the final and praised veteran halfback Steve So'oialo for his contribution.

"Our season has turned around a lot on Steve So'oialo, who just gives us that experience that we need and he really showed that out there today. We've got a lot of young guys coming through and they are just starting to gel well together. Our two starting props in the final were aged 19 and 20 respectively and the guys that came on later to replace them were 30 and 33 so we have good mix."

So'oialo was the Club Weekly's Player of the Final, directing play superbly and helping his team stay the more composed and make fewer mistakes, which were the key differences between the sides.

The final, played in cloudy, windy conditions started off with both sides missing early penalties, before Tawa fullback Randall Bishop kicked Tawa into a 3-0 lead.

OBU lit up the final with their first real opportunity, fullback Jesse Johnson re-gathering a kick and chase by second five-eighth Seminar Manu and setting up a resulting attacking scrum 15 metres out. Halfback Kavanagh scampered from the base but was cut down short. Awarded a penalty in front, first five-eighth Mike Newell took the points to even up the scores.

Tawa were then reduced to 14 men for the first time in the match, with loosehead prop Tolu Fahamokioa shown yellow. OBU counterattacked from halfway and right wing Will Mowbray, in his 50^th match for the side, was put in the clear. Mowbray took play up towards the 22, passed inside to Manu, who in turn presented left wing Luke Fiso a try on the other side of the bar. The conversion missed but OBU were now ahead 8-3.

In a sign of what was to come after halftime, the seven man Tawa pack picked and drove and strung some promising phases together. OBU were penalised and Bishop stepped up with the penalty to narrow the gap to 8-6.

Tawa then took the lead and surged to a 20-8 halftime lead with back-to-back tries.

The first came from a counterattack from near halfway after OBU had themselves run the ball back promisingly from a defensive scrum. But the ball was spilled forward and Tawa No.8 Milo Mekaio poured into space in broken play. Mekaio was brought to ground, the ball popped free and hard running centre Jason Roache picked it up and sprinted away to score under the posts. Bishop converted to put Tawa ahead 13-8.

OBU launched an impressive period of phase play themselves; building up pressure inside Tawa's 22 and probing for a response. However they knocked on again and Tawa won a reprieve in the form of a defensive scrum just inside their 22 near the touchline and with left wing Tilsley waiting to pounce.

From the set-pice, So'oialo went blindside and popped a pass to Tilsley who took off and scored the try of the final.

Tilsely said afterwards his try was planned.

"It was a set move," he said. "As soon as we set that scrum inside our 22 [halfback] Steve said to me be ready and have a go. So as soon as I got the ball I managed to run around my marker, then got to gliding pace and did a little shimmy and luckily beat the last defender and the tryline opened up for me."

Trailing by 13 points, OBU needed to score first after halftime, but missed early chances. Newell missed a penalty chance, while a lineout in the corner and quick ball off the top came to nothing with yet another knock-on. Inaccuracy was hurting the students.

The next 15 minutes of the final were all Tawa, their forwards playing good, steady driving rugby and keeping OBU pinned inside their own territory. Awarded a penalty, they kicked for the corner and set up once more. This time they got close to the line and lock Gaualofa crashed over under a sea of bodies. The conversion was missed, but at 25-8 up it was a long way back for the students.

They did so though, and when Kavanagh scored his try and Newell converted to make a 10-point game it was all on. OBU centre went close to scoring again, but again fumbled in front of the uprights with Tawa stretched to breaking point.

Prop Andrews dived over in the right hand corner to score their third, before a raking kick into touch inside the same corner by Newell led to OBU setting up camp inside the 22 to instigate an agonising finish to the game for both sets of supporters.

The Hardham Cup win for Tawa is their third in the past decade, following victories in 2003 and 2008.

In the curtain-raiser, top qualifier Marist St. Pat's beat Oriental-Rongotai 18-3 to win the John E Kelly Memorial Trophy Wellington U21 competition.?

The Jubilee Cup final is at the Petone Recreation Ground tomorrow at 2.35pm.