All the pressure in this match was at the feet of the Counties Manukau boys who went through the opening rounds undefeated and dominated Wellington the last time they met with a 10-4 victory. Wellington had beaten Canterbury earlier in the morning to make the Final and would be looking to play like they did in their first encounter with Counties, a 6-6 draw in the first round.
The favourites started like they were on a mission and created a try within 15 seconds of the tap off, quick hands finding space for Abel Enosa-Taifau to score in the middle. Wellington hit back straight away though from their tap off when Baileigh Vaigfa snuck in and leveled the scores. Counties had the better of the next five minutes, dominating possession and then producing an electrifying runaway try to Desmond Spooner. Again though, Wellington kept in touch when Danni Pihema dived across.
A step, dummy and burst of speed put Jarrod Pomare over for Counties is what was turning into a fast and even encounter. Manukau held out Wellington for the rest of the half, but the southern side got their defensive structure in order and were very much in the game trailing 2-3.
The second half followed the script of the first in the opening exchanges with Manukau scoring and Wellington answering with a try of their own shortly after. As the game wore on however, Counties’ class came to the fore and they were dominant in all aspects of play. Counties ran away with the game in the end 7-3 and it was a result that reflected their commanding performances throughout the tournament.
Final Score
Manukau 7
Wellington 3
Last Modified on 06/03/2010 11:54