Taranaki Rugby looks back at some memorable finals played part of the CMK flashback.

Blade Thomson and the rest of the Tukapa faithful had their hearts in their mouths at the end of the 2010 club final against New Plymouth Old Boys.

As time was up, Thomson’s brain fade saw him deliberately throw the ball into touch which allowed Old Boys fullback Codey Rei to line up a penalty kick 15-meters in from touch on a still July afternoon.

The kick would have sent the final into extra time, but fortunately for Tukapa, Rei missed to crown the ‘Chooks’ champions 19-16 for the 13^th time – the first time in five years.

It was a tough end for Rei, who a week earlier slotted a 42-meter last-minute penalty to send Old Boys into the finale in the semi-final against Inglewood.

After the game, Thomson, who was a champion New Zealand U20 representative, said “oh, just, nah, I thought I’d blown it.”  

He didn’t blow it as Tukapa claimed their first win over their arch-rivals in a final. Tukapa lost to Old Boys’ in finals on three previous occasions and went onto beat them the 2011 and 2016 finals.

During the 2010 season, Tukapa lost two round robin matches, ironically both against Old Boys.

In the first half, it looked like Old Boys was going to maintain their dominance they had over Tukapa as they lead 13-0 after 20 minutes.

After a disallowed Sevania Buitiviti try for Tukapa, tables had turned for the blue and whites.  

Jack Cameron slotted two penalty kicks that kept Tukapa in the hunt, eventually kicking 14 points.

Tukapa maintained possession in the second stanza and when Old Boys gave away penalties close to their line, captain Brendon McGlashan was sent to the bin.

After a number of solid scrums, Tukapa prop Tama Tuirirangi crashed over to level the game 16-all.

Tukapa flanker Chris Walker backed up an excellent display for Taranaki the previous day against Bay of Plenty in Whakatane with an imperious performance at the breakdown.

Cameron slotted his fourth penalty kick with two minutes remaining to give his side the lead.

Then the attention switched to Thomson’s brain explosion, that did not matter in the end.

Then Tukapa Chairman Paul Meuli said there was a ‘collective groan’ from supporters after the ‘rugby league stunt’ knowing what was at stake.  

“But the penalty kick missed, and we achieved an easy landslide win,” he said.

It was Meuli’s first year as club Chairman and Tukapa also had a ring-in coach at the helm.

Kelvin McDowell was bought in after Leo Crowley had to pull out when he was called up to assist Taranaki under Colin Cooper.

“We did not get Kelvin in place until early February that year,” Meuli said.

What stood out for Meuli during the 2010 season was the value of experience and on-field leadership. Tukapa was blessed to have experience players like Vince Proctor, Tama Tuirirangi, Orisi Belau, Doug Henderson, Daniel Sinclair and Brad Fale in the squad.

“To me their presence meant the difference between consistently winning the close ones as opposed to maybe losing some of them if the experienced guys had not been on board to stead the ship and make the right calls under pressure.”

It was a successful finals day for Tukapa winning two from two as their Senior Thirds picked up another title.

Tukapa 19 (Tama Tuirirangi try; Jack Cameron con, 4 pens) 

New Plymouth Old Boys 16 (Frank Tawake try; Codey Rei con, 2 pens; Frazier Climo dropped goal). Halftime 6-13.

Tukapa: Lagen Kumeroa, Orisi Belau, Whaimotu Craft-Chemis, Daniel Sinclair/Isia Tuifua, Sevania Buitiviti, Jack Cameron, Jason Holdt, Paulo Tokalauvere, Brooke Weck/Chris Walker, Blade Thomson, Brad Fale, Vince Proctor, Tama Tuirirangi, Ben Siffleet, Tony Penn (c). Reserves: Baxter King, Reece Hannam, Phil Whalden, Hayden Woodley/Brook Wreck, Andrew Kelly, Doug Henderson/Hayden Woodley, Sean Curd/Daniel Sinclair.

New Plymouth Old Boys’: Codey Rei, Frank Tawake, Adam Laititi, Ross Allen, Frazier Climo, Mal Barnes, Joe Fowell, Dave Rilley, Jono Crossan, Bredon McGlashan (c), Dean Stewart, Hamish Mitchell, Andrew Gadsby, Jeremy Burton. Reserves: Jason Sharpe, Richard Wisnewski, Trent Sutton, Rhys Burton, Michael Carr, John Sutter, Matt Geange/Wayne Matson.

Referee: Darryl Heibner

CMK Chartered Accountants are proud partners of Taranaki club rugby. CMK Chartered Accountants have been providing accounting, taxation and business development support to clients for nearly 70 years. They take pride in working closely with their clients at all stages of growth, to structure their business to maximise both profit and efficiency.

Article added: Thursday 21 May 2020