Rugby: We'll be back, skipper vows

Mark Grieve-Dunn.
Mark Grieve-Dunn.
Beaten but not broken.

Dunedin captain Mark Grieve-Dunn cut a forlorn figure with his left arm supported in a fold at the bottom of his jersey.

He has been nursing a shoulder injury but boxed on and was part of a mighty effort by the Dunedin.

His side, though, was defeated 29-22 by Kaikorai in the premier final at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

While he looked bruised - and his shoulder was certainly tender - he was upbeat, vowing Dunedin would return next year with a point to prove.

"We'll definitely be back. We lost to Taieri in 2012 but that gave us the fire for 2013,'' he said.

"You are always going to be disappointed when you lose a final. It is not an enjoyable feeling but we've done extremely well.

"It probably only came down to a couple of plays in the game.''

Centre Jayden Spence had a huge impact on the match.

He set up all three of Kaikorai's tries with an explosive performance in the midfield.

"Spence is a class act and there is a reason why he has played nearly 50 games for Otago. He was a rock in that midfield for them and he made a menace of himself on attack and defence.''

While Kaikorai was finding lots of space in the midfield, Dunedin stuck rigidly to its game plan of grinding the ball up through its massive pack.

When the Sharks did open up late in the game they managed to score through impressive loose forward Hame Toma.

Asked if Dunedin left its change of tactics too late, Grieve-Dunn said he felt his side had to play to its strengths.

"I was still confident with what we were doing. We smashed them at scrum-time and we got a bit of reward from that. You have to play to your strengths. They used width and they did it well. They deserved to win.''

The match was a farewell of sorts. Veteran Dunedin prop Will Henry made his 174th appearance for the premier side and possibly his last.

"I dare say he would come back if we sent an SOS out but it was his last campaign. We wanted to see him off in style but couldn't quite do that.''

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