Robyn Edie
The Woodlands team celebrates winning the Galbraith Shield after a 28-27 win over Pirates-Old Boys.
Woodlands captain Marty McKenzie believes the club’s ever-growing final experience has meant a lot on Saturday.
Woodlands won its third consecutive Galbraith Shield Southland premier club rugby title by a tense 28-27 win over Pirates-Old Boys at Rugby Park.
The defending champions trailed 27-23 in the final 10 minutes before fullback Kieran Lee scored with six minutes left to make it 28-27.
From then on, Woodlands was hard to claim the club’s 11th Galbraith Shield title since 1996.
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Robyn Edie
Woodlands fullback Kieran Lee in action against Pirates-Old Boys in the Galbraith Shield final at Rugby Park.
Remarkably, for hooker Jason Rutledge, it was his 10th personal Galbraith Shield title.
McKenzie said they were under a lot of pressure from Pirates-Old Boys, but they could lean on Woodlands’ wealth of finals experience when the going got tough.
“We talked about it this week. Being in the final every year is a huge advantage for me. Being here, experiencing it, going through hard times in a finale and working out how to get out of certain situations.
“We talked about the experience of the last two years and building on that, and I think we reacted really well because we came under a lot of pressure, so it was great.”
Robyn Edie
Vocal Pirates-Old Boys supporters at the 2022 Galbraith Shield final at Rugby Park in Invercargill on Saturday.
Saturday’s final marked the third time Woodlands and Pirates-Old Boys have met in 2022, with all three games decided by just one point.
Pirates-Old Boys were worthy finalists who played well in the decider. It would have felt like they’d done enough to win the club’s first title in 16 years, only to miss a few big moments.
Woodlands scored on the stroke of half time to take a 20-10 lead but tried to defend Josh Murrell and wing Materua Tupou along with a penalty from Greg Dyer pushed Pirates-Old Boys to a 27-20 lead 16 minutes into the second half.
A McKenzie penalty reduced it to 27-23 with 14 minutes left before Lee dealt the ultimate blow in the 74th minute.
“We just hung tough, there were some guys on their feet. That’s it, we just love each other hard,” McKenzie said.
Robyn Edie
Woodlands player Paula Latu, holding a Tongan flag, is lining up to receive his winner’s medal after the 2022 Galbraith Shield final.
There were a lot of heroes in the park for Woodands, wing Rory van Vugt has done a lot of work, as has tight-head prop Paula Latu. Center Tausosi Tuimavave has also been working hard all the time.
His counterpart Isaac Te Tamaki was probably the best seen in the final against a defeated team.
Pirates-Old Boys first five-eighth Greg Dyer also put his team in the right parts of the field in what was an important duel with McKenzie.
Despite the loss, Dyer will have some confidence in the Stags season after that display. However, McKenzie, a former Maori All Black, has chosen to miss the 2022 NPC season.
“That’s me for the season. I’m actually looking forward to having the weekends back,” he said.
Robyn Edie
Marty McKenzie releases teammate Rory van Vugt with Pirates Old-Boys players Ben Morris and Ben Keenan in defense in the 2022 Galbraith Shield final
While McKenzie will be putting away the boots for the rest of the season, he still has some rugby duties to fill.
He will help coach the Southland under-19 team along with Scott Eade, Dayna Cunningham and Derek Manson.
First, there’s the pretty big celebration of winning another Galbraith Shield title to work through.
END RESULT
Galbraith shield: Woodlands 28, Pirates Old Boys 27
Ack Soper shield: Edendale 35, Wyndham 34
Gerald Dermody Shield: Mataura 30, Waikaka/Riversdale Vikings 26
Cup for members of life: Blues 19, Wakatipu 8
CJ Soper Monument: Mossburn 15, Bluff 10
Past President’s Shield: Star 55, Balfour 10
President’s Trophy: Wyndham 19, Waikaka 5
President’s Cup: Waikaia 22, Mataura 19