Determined not to be bullied by the big Northland Kauri pack, the Otago Spirit came out hissing to defend their line with grit.
They held up Northland twice in a stoic defensive spell that gave the Spirit the belief to lay the foundation for one of the best 40 minutes of rugby.
And when you give the Spirit the ball and let them have a little space, there is only one way things are going to end.
They burst out to a 25-0 lead at halftime and charged on to win the Farah Palmer Cup Championship 37-12 at Tahuna Park yesterday.
It capped off an unbeaten season and the richly deserved victory will result in the Spirit being elevated to the top-tier Premiership in 2026.
Coach Matt Direen was rapt to lift the title.
"Knowing how hard these guys have worked, and knowing this was the end goal, and achieving it, you just feel incredibly proud," Direen said.
Direen stepped up as head coach this year, after several seasons as assistant, and praised his coaching and management team.
"Just like me, they’ve all felt the same. It’s just an exciting team to be a part of."
Lifting the trophy is always a nice feeling, but seeing the culture the Spirit players created filled him with more pride than anything else.
"Sure I would’ve been disappointed if we lost, but I still would’ve viewed it as a success based on just how well they’ve got on as a team and you’ll see that in the way they play.
"Some of our tries are individual, but most of them are constructed through the team."
Winger Hannah Norris, who is in her final year of secondary school, finished off a well-worked team try to open the floodgates in the opening 10 minutes.
Seeing the connections between the teenager and some of the elder members of the team — "there’s more than 10 years there" — helped build the clean sweep season.
"Seeing the connection that they’ve got — oldest to youngest — they’re all making friends for life, basically, and a season like this pretty much guarantees it," Direen said.
After the opener from Norris, the Kauri started to string some phases together and pressured the Spirit’s line.
But the Spirit were up for the challenge, putting their bodies on the line for each other to hold out the Kauri twice and forced them into mistakes.
"We knew that defensively we had to turn up. The fact that first 20 minutes we held out our line probably gave us a lift but also possibly demoralised them a little bit as well," Direen said.
That passage ended with captain Greer Muir bustling over for another. Norris then scooped up Northland’s wayward pass as they exited their half and took off to score her second.
Just before halftime, fullback Olivia Fowler reached out to finish a well-worked team try.
That gave the Spirit a 25-0 lead at halftime and left the visitors shell-shocked.
Northland butchered their chances to open the second half. Spirit flanker Sarah Jones and lock Leila Hill put in some big hits defensively to keep them at bay.
They eventually found their first points through winger Tyler Nankivell.
The Spirit’s kick chase throughout the game was strong, putting the Kauri under pressure.
Centre Charlotte Va’afusuaga, who made some big carries, added to the scoresheet for the Spirit.
Flanker Ella Gomez had a mad 40m dash after intercepting the ball and was taken down just shy.
But the Spirit recycled quickly and Jones finished it off.
Lily Murray-Wihongi scored a constellation try and former Black Fern prop Krystal Murray converted.
Farah Palmer Cup
The scores
Otago Spirit 37
Hannah Norris 2, Greer Muir, Olivia Fowler, Charlotte Va’afusuaga, Sarah Jones tries; Sheree Hume con, Georgia Cormick con; Hume pen.
Northland Kauri 12
Tyler Nankivell, Lily Murray-Wihongi tries; Krystal Murray con.
Halftime: 25-0.
