College Sport Media:
“I scored a try just after halftime to make it 24-3. In the heat of the moment I got too excited and jumped so high I popped my shoulder. I had to watch the rest of the game from the sideline in a sling,” Manurewa High School captain RJ Ioane ruefully laughs when reflecting on the Rainbow’s End Counties/Waikato First XV final last Thursday.
For the remainder of the match, Cambridge High School made the Manurewa captain and flanker extremely nervous.
“We lost our discipline and they came back slowly. We had two yellow cards and suddenly it was 24-20. The boys dug deep and we held on, but it was hard to watch,” Ioane reflects.
The passionate Ioane was the most relieved individual at Growers Stadium, Pukekohe when the fulltime whistle sounded and Manurewa were the champions. The 2016 runners up tag was a bitter pill to swallow.