If ever a locker-room of men were delighted that a last-minute victory did not advance them up a competition points table, then it was Waverley Harvesting Border on Saturday.

In the big twist of the Tasman Tanning Premier competition for 2025, Border came to Memorial Park to upset Byford’s Readimix Taihape, as an audacious 20m blindside ruck sneak from hard-toiling prop Ross McDonald near fulltime snatched a 15-10 win to lift the Barracks Challenge Shield.

More than that, the new-look Border side was able to alter the trajectory of their destiny for making a run at a sixth consecutive Rosebowl title.

Although their third straight on-field win after four losses and a draw did not move lift them up to third place, Border forced Taihape back down to second, giving Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau top spot by virtue of their automatic five points on the bye.

Kaierau and Taihape finished tied on top of the Premier table, while having split wins in their fixtures this year, so per WRFU rules the deciding factor came down to points differential from those same two games, with Kaierau’s being better by +6.

This was exactly what Border have been after for the last three weeks – avoiding consecutive weekend hauls to Memorial Park, and instead making a much shorter trip to a Country Club semifinal against a team coming off two weeks without games and carrying a significant injury toll.

But that dynamic outcome belied a rather flat fixture dominated by defence and categorised by notable mistakes in and around the breakdown, with Taihape not getting the best use out of the wind with their first half kicking.

The hosts had started as firm favourites, not only due to slightly wet conditions underfoot favouring their style, but also two thirds of their team were match conditioned by playing the previous weekend’s sub-union game, whereas Border sat at home.

But after opposing first-fives Chad Whale and Tyrone Albert traded penalties, the visitors struck the first decisive blow following a penalty lineout near halftime.

While Taihape managed to stop Border spreading the ball into the far side corner on their first attempt, the forwards carried back towards the posts, and on the second attempt fullback Harry Symes beat his marker to flash over for his third try in two games.

Border No8 Jay Tora had led a strong midfield defence, supported by flanker Jeff Dorset and franchise centre Alekesio Vakarorogo, which saw Taihape trying to use more width, unsuccessfully.

Come the second half and with a lift from their bench, specifically front-rowers Gabriel Hakaraia and Tru Ratana-Horton, along with forwards Isaiah Mātana and the powerful Kaleb Sweet, Taihape’s ball control tightened up and they carried with more purpose – Border needing the wind to launch some long range clearances to hold back the tide.

Centre Tiari Mumby ripping back lost possession inside the attacking 22m gave Taihape a close-range chance from  a ruck penalty, and following the quick tap, Sweet drove his way across near the posts for the equaliser with 15 minutes left.

But Taihape then made several turnovers in the attacking half, allowing Border to clear the ball, before a dangerous tackle from Ratana-Horton saw him get a yellow card and give the visitors a late chance, given the deadlocked scoreline still meant a return trip for the semifinals and missed opportunity to claim the Shield.

From the attacking lineout, both packs piled into the ruck, but no-one other than McDonald, who only a few minutes beforehand had been hurt in a gang tackle, saw the gaping hole left on the blindside, as he dashed off as fast as his legs could carry him to score the priceless match-winner.

“It was a bit of a funny old game, to be fair it didn’t feel like there was a lot of intensity in both sides, to be honest,” said Border co-coach Cole Baldwin.

“In that first half, we were just trying to feel each other out. In the second half, there was a little bit more intensity from Taihape and we didn’t really go with it.

“We’ve got to stop giving away those silly penalties and what seems to be happening is they’re multiplying – one after the other - and it’s putting us in a world of trouble.

“If we get it wrong, there’s no more chances after next week.

“I’ll be expecting us for a semifinal going in at full strength, but even if not we can still call upon a couple of our Senior guys to come up and train with us next week anyway, which will help with competition as well.”

Taihape coach Sefo Bourke was left to ponder why his team had not fired at a critical juncture of the season, something completely unlikely to happen in the semifinals, as this was not the first time they have surrendered the Challenge Shield in the last defence.

“It is a bit of a curse for us, but with this game out of the way now they can take that Shield home and lock it away and we’ll concentrate on the one everyone wants, which will be hopefully in a couple of weeks.

“I’ll have to look at the tape again but how we played in the first half was a credit to Border and how they played.

“I thought we were quite slow at ruck time, we weren’t as physical as we should have been, and they were really, really good over the ball and good at disrupting.

“In the second half we were strong there at ruck time - we strung some phases together – but they came to play and credit to them.”

Barracks Challenge Shield - Border 15 (H Symes, R McDonald tries; T Albert pen, con) bt Taihape 10 (K Sweet try; C Whale pen, con). HT: 10-3.
 

By Jared Smith