Hope turns into tears for rugby stalwart

TEARS welling in his eyes, Bay of Plenty rugby's greatest administrator Dick Littlejohn said it was possibly the best rugby occasion of his life.

Littlejohn sat beaming in the Eden Park grandstand as the Bay of Plenty Steamers yesterday hoisted high to the heavens New Zealand rugby's greatest prize - the Ranfurly Shield.

The Eastern Bay of Plenty stalwart, who was chairman of the Bay of Plenty Rugby Football Union for 16 years, on the board of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union for eight years and manager of the All Blacks, said yesterday there was a time he didn't think he'd ever see the Steamers lift the Shield.

Littlejohn was at Eden Park eight years ago and shed a quiet tear as Bay of Plenty blew a huge lead and lost their Shield challenge 30-29 when Auckland bagged a last-gasp converted try.

``Honestly, I didn't ever think I'd live to see today happen,'' a tearful Littlejohn said.

``It was just such a great effort from the guys. I thought our scrum was excellent and our lineout work was great. If you can dominate both of those then you can normally win.''

Littlejohn estimates he has seen a dozen of Bay of Plenty's 19 challenges for the Ranfurly Shield.

``Yes, I was here in 1996 but I was also here in 1956 when we went down by three points.

``But I gave this team today every chance. We'd beaten Auckland last year and we had the sort of forward pack that will win you games.

``It was a total team effort though, you'd struggle to single one guy out of a team like that because it was such a total effort. I think what happened out there was that both teams played exactly the same sort of game and we were fortunate enough to win it.''

Greg Rowlands, Bay of Plenty's most capped player with 161 games, watched yesterday's drama unfold alongside former team-mates Max Heimann and Graeme Moore, with the beaming trio joining the Steamers sideline after the game to celebrate the victory.

Rowlands, who was part of Bay of Plenty's first and only NPC first division winning team in 1976 and later went on to play for the All Blacks, said he was immensely proud of what yesterday's team achieved.

``If it was going to be Bay of Plenty's day it was going to be today and the signs were there for me early in the game that this could be it,'' Rowlands said.

``I was never confident though - we've all lived through it before and you just couldn't afford to be confident, only hopeful.

``It wasn't until that final minute that some confidence started to come in - it was just unbelievable.

``When we got outside seven points it was only then I dared think we could win. I doubt even God could be that cruel as to take it away from us again.''

Heimann, a gritty halfback, said it was a fantastic performance from a team that had played superbly against the odds.

Moore, who has been teaching in Turkey for two years, leaves today for another two-year stint in Oman and said winning the Shield was the perfect parting gift.

``It was a day I never thought would come but to see the Shield in Bay hands the day before I fly out is something I'll never forget,'' the 114-game former winger said.

``In the first half, I thought Auckland was playing poorly enough to lose it but the question in my mind was whether our guys could get up there to keep the pressure on to come through and win.

``I thought they did that and they did it magnificently. It was a performance that made me totally proud to be from the Bay.''