Jubilee Cup Finals: Honourable Losers

The winner gets all the glory. But what about standout players from losing teams in Jubilee Cup finals?

See below for five instances of Jubilee Cup finals runner-ups who stood out in beaten causes.

2012: Ardie Savea (Ories) – The joint winner of the Billy Wallace Best & Fairest award and future All Blacks captain played only half a season (10 games, 7 tries) but nearly led the Magpies to a successful defence of the Jubilee Cup.

The final, held in a Hutt Rec quagmire, was narrowly won by Marist St Pat’s with a score of 14-8. Savea’s lion-hearted performance provided an early glimpse of the form that would see him awarded World Rugby Player of the Year in 2023. Club Rugby noted, “Ardie Savea once again demonstrated why he is a future superstar, with his busy workload and ability to gain ground every time he touched the ball.”

The 2012 Jubilee Cup final, broadcast nationally on Sky TV, featured no fewer than five internationals. This match was part of a high point for Club Rugby in Wellington, where a total of 194 club matches were played, with 80 (just over 40 percent) decided by a converted try or less.

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2014: Shahn Eru (Wainuiomata)

Summing up Wainuuomata’s loss in their maiden final appearance, the Dominion Post wrote that ‘sometimes you win a little even in defeat.’ Wainuiomata pushed winners Hutt Old Boys Marist all the way and very nearly won. They held their heads high after their first final since the club’s inception in 1946.

If it wasn’t for a few small things going their way, such as a couple more successful kicks going over from difficult distances and angles or the loss of injury early in the second half of young fullback Josh Robertson-Weepu who was having a blinder it may have gone differently.

As it was, Wainuiomata kept Hutt Old Boys Marist scoreless for 50 minutes and led 8-0 at halftime thanks to a try to blindside flanker Shahn Eru and didn’t relinquish the lead until the 68^th minute.

Eru was at the heart of a passionate performance amongst the loose forwards at the Hutt Rec, alongside Greg Lealofi and Henry Stowers. If tackle and collision stats were kept then Eru would have surely led these charts. He was also to the fore in the lineouts and with ball in hand, stepping up in the absence of the late Ben Tupuola who wasn’t playing Sunday’s final because of religious grounds.

HOBM won 14-11, but this match did a lot for Wainuiomata rugby and the community.

Eru went into play 15 games for Bay of Plenty and 10 for Perpignan in France.

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2016: Matt Peni (Marist St Pat’s)

Marist St Pat’s supporters left Porirua Park in fading light after the final wondering what could have been for the second consecutive year. After losing 27-30 to Old Boys University in 2015, they came up short again, this time to Tawa 20-24.

MSP had spent the dying minutes of the match hammering away at Tawa’s line but couldn’t quite get the job done through multiple pick and goes by the forwards – the last of which was by Matt Peni was knocked on by a support player and Tawa escaped with the trumpet of the fulltime whistle.

No. 8 Peni had already scored two tries in the final, MSP’s only two, so it was particularly heart-breaking for him to leave with a runners-up medal with a brace thinking ‘what if’ had he scored a hat-trick and was raising the Jubilee Cup up to the night sky in a likely Player of the Final performance.

Particularly so, after he had fought back from injuries, missing the 2015 season with an Achilles injury and much of 2016 with ankle and hamstring issues.

Both of Peni’s tries were scored following 5-metre scrums, the second got them to within four points late in the game as rain set in and with MSP a chance of snaffling victory at the end when Tawa lost a player to the sin-bin.

Fromer New Zealand U20s squad member Peni played some 60 Premier matches for MSP in 2014, between 2016-18 and again in 2021.

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2018: Du Plessis Kirifi (Northern United) – The 2018 final at the Petone Rec couldn’t have started worse for Norths, who fell behind 25-3 at halftime. Billygoats halfback Matt ‘The Unit’ Fowler, the smallest player on the field, even scored two tries.

After a pep talk at the interval, Norths closed the gap to 25-17 with tries from Kienan Higgins and Johnny Teleaga. Wellington Lions and Hurricanes midfielder Wes Goosen added to the Goats’ lead with his second try, making it 37-17.

When all seemed lost for Norths, Kirifi became unstoppable, making several powerful runs and turnovers. He collected a ricochet kick and sprinted 30 meters to score under the posts, bringing the score to 37-31 with just a minute left to play.

OBU knocked on from the kick-off, allowing Norths to feed the scrum 10 meters from halfway. Alex Barendregt – who won the Jim Brown Memorial medal – secured a penalty for OBU, which allowed the students to scramble the ball into touch and defend the title.

Kirifi would find redemption in 2019 when Norths defeated Wainuiomata 25-16 in the final and again in 2022 against Petone, winning 23-20. His only other defeat in 23 appearances for Norths was a 37-33 loss to Ories in 2018, where Alex Ropeti scored a last-minute winner for the Magpies.

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2022: Josh Southall (Petone) – When Petone captain and openside flanker Jacob Gooch left the field with an injury after just half an hour and the score at 12-3, it seemed the Villagers were collapsing at Jerry Collins Stadium. However, the arrival of dynamic Southall sparked a revival. Listed as playing hooker, Southall actually suited up as a flanker. Petone quickly scored 10 points to lead 13-12 at halftime.

In a gripping second half, Southall made a try-saving tackle, numerous powerful runs, and was a constant threat, marking Wellington Lions captain Du Plessis Kirifi. Remarkably, Southall hadn’t played for three months prior; his only other appearances that season for Petone were wins against Upper Hutt (36-15) and Norths (30-22).

Despite two tries from St Patrick’s College, Silverstream, and New Zealand Secondary Schools teammate Riley Higgins – one of which was an intercept from halfway in front of his uncle, North’s assistant coach Richard Higgins – a try from Te Kahu Bishop proved to be the difference in a narrow win for Norths.

Although Southall won all six games he played for the Wellington Lions, injuries ultimately forced him into an early retirement.