Celtic win rugby title in South Canterbury in pulse arm wrestling final

Celtic are once again South Canterbury’s senior club champions after winning a pulse-pounding seesaw arm wrestling final 22-18 against Waimate on Saturday.

Waimate dominated for good periods of the game at the Pleasant Point Domain and led four times but was unable to put the finishing touches and will have to wait another year to end a nearly 30-year title drought.

Celtic, who last won the title in 2018 when they defeated Waimate 25-22, scored the winning points midway through the second half when captain Willie Wright made a big decision to give a gift three points from a penalty to the Waimate items to be rejected that would have equalized the scores.

With his team trailing 15-18, Wright opted for a scrum and from the resulting play, the second five-eighth Natui Saumani Su’a came out of his marker and ran towards him to score. Hayden Kerr’s conversion rounded out the score at 22-18.

An ecstatic Wright, who played his 115th game for Celtic, told… The Timaru Herald after the game it was “a big game under the posts” to take the scrum.

“I supported the guys to try and we did and then we persevered.

“They really threw everything at us, but we made it through.”

Wright said it was “absolutely unreal kind of on the edge of the seat”.

“These (win) rates above that. Of course you can’t take away the 10 titles in a row, but it’s pretty special not to win it for a few years and come back to this.

“This is right there and definitely a real final. Both teams threw all the trimmings. Unbelievable.”

Wright and the quartet of other players with over 100 appearances – prop Garret Casey (135), lock Matthew Stewart (145), flanker Nick Strachan (209) and fullback Jarrad Mannex (143) were the cornerstone of the win, but the team had plenty of key less experienced performers starring in whore Connor Anderson, Lock Ben Kerr, flanker Josh Mehrtens, No 8 Aporosa Qata, second five-eighth Natui Saumani Su’a.

The points difference was never more than four points and Waimate will consider two kicks on goal from first five-eighth Stefan Kloppers who hit a post and bounced, costing five points.

There was plenty to admire about the Waimate effort as they dominated the area and possession for much of the game but let themselves down with errors at inopportune moments.

Locks Anthony Amato and Henry Bryce were powerful in the field, but Waimate’s lineout struggled to consistently win its own pitches. The loose forward trio of captain Eafou Tagiaia, Loni Toumohuni and Brody Gallagher were tireless and halfback Theo Davidson, center Ben Dyson and fullback Dan Patterson looked dangerous in their few chances.

A disappointed Tagiaia said he was running out of words.

“The discipline sometimes let us down. When you play against teams like Celtic you don’t want to give away too many penalties because they will penalize you from everywhere,” Tagiaia said.

“I give them all credit, they played well today.

“It’s been a big season for us. A lot of people wrote us off from the start, let alone made it to the top four to be here today. We came out of this and were just a little short. There’s always next year.”

Waimate led 3-0 in the third minute after a penalty from Kloppers. Kloppers had the chance to double the lead with another penalty in the 11th minute, but hit the crossbar.

Celtic revealed their lineout drive in the 14th minute to devastating effect as Anderson closed the drive to score and Kerr’s conversion made it 7-3.

Waimate then revealed his own lineout drive from about 20 yards in the 30th minute, taking the game to the goal line, having several times on the line before a quick tap from a penalty ended with an attempt at Amato, converted by Klopper, and changed the lead for the second time, 10-7.

Seven minutes later Celtic were back in front thanks to the lineout drive when Casey was unstoppable in the corner close to the line for a 12-10 lead.

Celtic’s lead lasted only a few minutes as Klopper scored another penalty at half time for a 13-12 deficit.

Celtic got off to a strong start in the second half by stringing together several stages, but only managed to use a Kerr penalty after two minutes to change the lead back to 15-13.

The lead changed for the sixth time when Waimate halfback Theo Davidson broke through in the 14th minute with a tinkling run from the base of a ruck 40 yards away. Davidson’s clean bust found support from center Ben Dyson, who moved on to fullback Dan Patterson to score. Kloppers’ attempt to convert hit the crossbar, but Waimate was leading 18-15.

Celtic immediately hit back on offense and produced his “big game” for Su’a to go outside his marker and score, with Kerr’s conversion completing the score at 22-18.

The final quarter presented opportunities for both sides, with Waimate ruining two clear chances with knock-ons in the final five minutes, costing field position and the game ending in another Waimate knock-on with Celtic camped deep in the Waimate 22.

A delighted Celtic coach, Scott Barnes, said his players had been outstanding all season.

“We’ve had a lot of adversity and we’ve had Covid and a really bad flu. We’ve also struggled with training grounds for the past month, we’ve had the Ranfurly Shield game involving a third of our players.

“So a lot of adversity and the guys just kept growing, including our reserves and guys who are in the margins. They just got into spots and did the job.

“There’s a lot of depth in the club. Even if we’ve called on the B-boys to do the job, we have no qualms about raising someone and that guy steps up and does his part.”

Barnes said Saturday’s win is “on the right track…I’ve won titles with rep teams, but not with a club team that you go through all season. To come back and win it like that is great. The guys are just excited.”

Other finals:

Senior (Ian Scott Memorial Cup): Mackenzie 27, Pleasant Point 21.

Senior B (Glover Cup): Celtic 29, Harlequins 14; (Wood Cup): Geraldine 17, Old Boys 15.