by Jared Smith – Whanganui Chronicle · 20 Oct, 2026 05:00 AM
They are the “miracle men” of the 2026 Hilux Heartland Championship as Steelform Whanganui snatched their third Lochore Cup right on fulltime in yet another playoff thriller at Timaru’s Fraser Park on Sunday.
The 43-42 triumph for their first national title since 2021, and first win over old silverware rivals South Canterbury since 2018, was an ode to the adage that winning finals is less about skill and more about willpower.
How else to explain victory after trailing 21-0 in the first quarter with a player sin-binned, making nearly twice as many handling errors as their opponent, struggling to cover South Canterbury’s powerful ball-runners in moments of broken defensive pattern, and needing to score two tries inside the last five minutes against the wind in stifling heat?
The answer is that iron sharpens iron.
After going 100 minutes eight days earlier against Horowhenua-Kāpiti, Whanganui simply refused to believe that a home side coolly keeping a two-score advantage over them for most of the second half – eerily reminiscent of the 2022-23 Meads Cup finals – must be that much better.
No 8 Salesi Savelio was nearly unstoppable with ball in hand and room to move, leading the charge as three times South Canterbury turned hot Whanganui attack into blistering counter-attack from deep inside their half to score what are often referred to as “coach-killer” tries, the best being centre Fynlay Hobson’s.
Despite another classic scrap with his marker Lindsay Horrocks, halfback Willie Wright’s 21 points extended his own Heartland scoring record to 615, while first-five Patelesio Oneone was the eventual beneficiary of Whanganui’s opening kickoff error to score under the posts before snapping off a drop goal.
But when Whanganui could keep possession and deny the hosts the chance to play quick spread, reactive rugby – pulling it back into a set piece where the visitors dominated the lineouts and scrums – the opportunities began presenting.
Ultimately, they out-scored South Canterbury seven tries to five, controlling enough phases that it appeared the 13-point gap with five minutes to go would be all the more heartbreaking, following the nightmare start where they were denied a seemingly fair try to winger Beniamino Vota while outstanding No 8 Ekenasio Fiso got a yellow card for an alleged shoulder-first cover tackle.
Despite first-five Tevita Asi (four from seven) being away with some important conversions while Wright and his cohorts Oneone and replacement Taine Cordell-Hull were snapping off virtually everything, Asi’s hands were all over the game’s other big plays, working behind a forward pack that just would not quit.
Asi’s last ruck pass to lock Shay Smith – easily rookie of the year – for the opening try and then his 50-22m kick to allow for reserve prop Jonty Bird’s try off a 5m lineout drive had Whanganui back in business before halftime at 24-17, with more to come for Asi.
Hooker Jack Yarrall stamped his best-ever season with a double, scoring off another lineout drive and then bouncing through tacklers on either side of a try-line ruck – finishing as Whanganui’s top forward try-scorer with seven.
But when you talk about try-scorers, then the “greatest of all time” was about to take everyone’s breath away.
After a 53rd-minute Wright penalty was keeping his team clear of danger at 34-24, a Whanganui ruck turnover was fired wide to centre Alekesio Vakarorogo, who from inside his 22m fended one defender, stepped another and turned three chasers inside out to crash over for his 56th Heartland try and perhaps the best of them all.
Game on at 34-32, once again Savelio was proving the difference as he turned a Whanganui attacking bomb into a deep raid into the attacking half, where two tap penalties saw reserve Anuanu Ohai dive over for a rapid reply.
Even losing Wright to an arm injury did not initially seem like a concern for South Canterbury as replacement Cordell-Hull took every second available to him before slotting a 74th-minute penalty to seemingly wrap up the game at 42-31.
But then a deep forwards reserve bench which coach Ross Williams had kept faith with for the past three weeks stood up.
Having subbed on prop Renato Tikoisolomone and lock Ofa Tauatevalu at halftime, after Bird joined in at the 33rd minute, the final burst of adrenaline started as Tauatevalu’s line break found fullback Juan Tantrum, and then on the ruck blindside Fiso slid through a tackler on his back to reach the tryline for a seven-pointer.
Down that same left-hand channel, co-captain Samu Kubunavanua busted his way through, finding the fatigueless Fiso with him, which led to a 15m ruck penalty with time almost up.
In a big call with his co-captain Doug Horrocks off the field, Kubunavanua opted for the scrum rather than lineout.
Marshalled by reserve halfback Cody Mitchell, the pack kept charging – led by Bird, Tikoisolomone, Yarrall and Fiso.
After 12 phases of incredible control, South Canterbury were piled up under their posts, and second-five Sheldon Pakinga popped the perfect pass between two defenders for Asi to dash beside the sticks, which he then swiftly converted to make history.
Putting on his gold medal, Doug Horrocks finally got to step forward to collect a trophy.
“To be fair, it’s a bit surreal to be standing here, having gotten away with that, especially after last week’s semifinal took the full 100 minutes, and we’ve done something similar here,” he said.
“We were deep in [injury] time and it shows a lot of character for the boys to dig deep again and we had to come back from a deep mountain and just chip away.
“South Canterbury were never going to let it go and it did take until fulltime, so very pleasing.”
Horrocks was asked to comment on Vakarogo’s impact, after his stunning try brought Whanganui back into a game that was likely slipping away.
“I think his record speaks for itself; he’s a very special player – I’d go so far as to say he’s probably the pinnacle of the Heartland competition and he’ll take a bit of catching.”
Williams knew that while so many of his pre-game strategies went up in the air, his faith in the determination shown in the past three weeks would give them a chance – having now twice scored on fulltime in playoffs.
“I felt if we just held on to the ball and build pressure, we were going through them, but we got a bit narrow early and that allowed them to get over our ball and we gave ball away that we didn’t get any purchase out of.
“Really pleased with the bench too; I thought they added a heap getting down there, and just the way we fought.
“That’s what we want – we want our province to be proud of us and know that we care – that we’re really proud of the jersey and a lot of people that work behind the scenes.
“We’ve worked really hard and it’s a team that will work with each other for 80 minutes.
“A lot of credit goes to the management group – they’ve worked really hard, and we’ve built a culture where people want to play for each other, so it’s a big step for us.”
Although no formal announcements on their playing futures in 2027 were likely on Sunday evening, the gigantic contributions of Whanganui’s multi-time champion veterans like Lindsay Horrocks, Jamie Hughes, Dane Whale, Tikoisolomone and Kubunavanua – now all in their mid-to-late 30s – deserved to be lauded.
“We desperately needed that leadership this year, and those guys have given heaps,” Williams said.
“Whilst we’ve blooded a lot of new guys to the environment, we needed those old heads, so really proud of them.”
