Hawks co-coach Ben McHugh said the Hawks celebrated thoroughly.
"It was a big shift [Saturday] night. We got through to seeing the All Blacks kick off and today [Sunday] is going to be fun, too."
His team’s buildup had worked out perfectly this year, he said.
"We had dominated the round-robin during the previous two seasons but then took a beaten-up team into the finals.
"This year we never hit our straps until the last couple of weeks and had a fit 28-man squad ready to go."
The Hawks played like a confident side right from the start, with first five-eighth Greg Dyer controlling the game.
After an elusive run by the silky fullback Jaye Thompson in the opening minutes, the Baabaas conceded the first penalty goal to Kaea Nikora-Balloch.
The teams traded another penalty goal each before Hawks No8 Hayden Hegarty crashed over for the first try. Hegarty had an excellent 40 minutes and was a popular first try-scorer with the rowdy Hawks supporters in the grandstand.
Hegarty was also celebrating his son’s birth early on Saturday.
Kaea knocked the conversion over in the 19th minute. Four minutes later, the Hawks backline found space for right wing Rin Maruyama to score in the corner. Kaea’s superb conversion extended the lead.
The Hawks got a bit loose in the next 10 minutes, with a couple of risky options resulting in turnovers. The Barbarians knuckled down to work and, after numerous pick and go movements, second five-eighth Joseva Mara scored a converted try.
The Barbarians were well in the game trailing 20-10 at halftime, but once the Hawks prop Shunsukue Asaoka barged over under the posts for a converted try, the Baabaas had a mountain to climb with 25 minutes remaining.
Some controversial calls from the touch judges were not falling in the Barbarians’ favour. The Barbarians then lost a man to the sin bin for rucking.
Coach Bretton Taylor said that was another big moment.
"I’m proud of our boys. They threw everything at them in the second half, but we couldn’t get points for one reason or another."
Inside the last 10 minutes, Hawks openside Ben Keenan crashed over to score by the posts.
Kaea knocked over the conversion and added a penalty goal late in the game.
Lock George Hall defended strongly in the first half and his locking partner Jakob Harrex was impressive throughout.
Taylor said the Hawks deserved their victory.
"They made fewer mistakes and were more clinical.
"I’m a bit disappointed about the four tries our boys reckon they scored that were disallowed, but that is rugby".
The Barbarians had been the most consistent team this season, losing only one game prior to this.
Taylor is sure there is more to come from them.
— John Langford
