Two clubs whose fortunes have often run parallel to each other are both keen for another taste of the big time after a tough battle in the Championship final at Cooks Gardens on Saturday.

Setting aside the disappointments of their 2022 and 2025 Senior grade final losses and after coming back down from a tough opening half of the season in Division 1, McCarthy’s Transport Ruapehu pulled away from Rockgas Whanganui Pirates for a 29-10 victory - lifting the WRFU Junior Cup for their first title at second-tier level since 2015.

But for the ever-improving Pirates, Division 2 winners before Ruapehu joined them in the Championship group, it was a milestone first trip back to Cooks Gardens since the 2019 Division 2 final against the now-defunct Ngamatapouri.

That was the season Pirates also left the top grade permanently and like Ruapehu, there is now a real eagerness within the town club to finally move back up again in 2027 to see if they foot it with the Top 6 clubs for at least the Division 1 round.

Points were hard to come by in the first half and it took a cornerstone player to make the difference as Ruapehu’s former Steelform Whanganui prop Gabriel Hakaraia produced a perfect offload to put flanker Jim Rowe under the posts, converted by second-five Jack Pettersson.

But Pirates dug in and made their tackles, and then a succession of free kicks and penalties had them in position for goal-kicking lock Ngatupuna Jackson-Apai to pop over three points approaching halftime.

The favourites struck first after the break as player-of-the-day Logan Blackburn made a brilliant run back from a high Pirates’ clearing kick and the first-five sent a great flick pass to his halfback and skipper Kahl Elers-Green to score in the corner – Pettersson converting from the touchline.

Again, Pirates would not go away as another succession of penalties let the pack work forward for their own skipper in prop Joshua-Ayden Callaghan-Sanford to force his way over for 14-10 in the 50^th minute.

From here, however, Ruapehu showed how their time in Division 1 has conditioned them as they pounded Pirates tryline until finally fullback Ahikaa Kara got a one-vs-one chance in the corner and stepped through to score.

The Ruapehu forwards worked their way back swiftly and Elers-Green gambled on a long pass for Kara to have another chance in the corner and the fullback delivered - beating two tacklers to dive over.

An attacking lineout with seven minutes remaining let Ruapehu work forward and Elers-Green spied the chance on the far blindside to scoot across for a double.

The two tries were redemption for the former Whanganui halfback Elers-Green after a tough final the year before with the Marist Knights, as like Hakaraia the veteran got to carry through the legacy from their club’s last titles in both Senior (2015) and Premier (2018) – the latter also against Pirates.

“He’s young at heart that boy, he’s a good man and led us well,” said coach Chris Winter of his skipper.

“I think with the penalties handed out, I think their discipline was real good – they didn’t drop lip they just back-pedalled and carried on with their work.”

The title was the perfect springboard to go have another crack at Division 1.

“Another year, they’re a young-as team and most of the boys will stick around so we’ll see how we go.”

One of a group of loyal Pirates clubmen that have kept things going for the last seven years, coach Matt Davis is eager for the same.

“It was a huge day for us today, just to be back in those finals and at the end of the day we want to get to that Premier and I think today proved that we could make the step up.

“We had a hard year, it sucks to lose but it is what it is. 

“We know we can compete – we competed for probably 70 minutes of that game, and I think we’re good enough and we’ve got enough cattle to get up to that next level now.”

Ruapehu 29 (A Kara 2, K Elers-Green 2, J Rowe tries; J Pettersson 2 con) bt Pirates 10 (J Callaghan-Sanford try; N Jackson-Apai pen, con). HT: 7-3.

By Jared Smith