Former Royal and CH and FC flanker Boa Athu has achieved what many an All Black could only dream of by laying his hands on the coveted Gallagher Shield and that too in the centenary year of the premier club rugby competition in Auckland.
Manukau Rovers won the Gallagher Shield only for the third time in the club’s 126-year history, the last being in 1973 after their maiden triumph in 1968, after a thrilling 20-18 comeback win over 35-time winners Ponsonby at Eden Park.
“To give an idea how much it meant, when we came back to the club after we won from Eden Park, we had people lining up on the sides of the street near the club. It’s not exactly the most fashionable part of town. Nine o’clock at night there were people lining up, waving flags, junior players wearing jerseys. When we came in, they did a Haka for us. It was quite extraordinary. It deeply touched the community,” said Boa Athu who has been involved with the club at all levels of coaching from junior, age grade to premier since moving to Auckland more than 20 years ago.
The 43-year-old Director of Coaching at Manukau Rovers has come a full circle since winning the Bradby and league as a schoolboy as a member of Royal’s record-breaking side in 1998, the Caltex Trophy representing CH in 2000 and now the Gallagher Shield in Auckland as a coach.
“I am very fortunate to have been part of three really extraordinary teams. When it comes to Gallagher there have been so many great former All Blacks who have coached at this level but they have never won one. I consider myself extremely lucky to be in this situation and to do it in the centenary year. It’s a dream come true. I would have never thought 20 some years ago when playing for college, that I would ever get a chance to lead at this level, let alone win,” said Boa Athu who attributed their success to planning, preparation, and execution.
“Ten months ago I sat down with my coaching staff to decide who is going to play, how we are going to play, what sort of skills we need, what are the game plans we are going to come up with. We planned everything right down to the very minor detail. We had a very good off season. We managed to recruit some very good players. In our squad we have 10 representative players at Provincial, Super Rugby, and Test level. Overall in this campaign we used a total of 42 players which is quite a lot. It came down to the very last second of the campaign to win the shield. We worked really hard to make sure that we get that,” he said.
There are 15 main clubs in Auckland which is the largest and pioneer provincial rugby union in New Zealand. Ponsonby have produced the most All Blacks in the history of New Zealand rugby with their most famous son being Sonny Bill Williams. Manukau Rovers had last won the trophy 49 years ago.
“This was like a ‘Rocky’ story going to Russia. Literally a fairytale story. We were huge underdogs. We put a lot of thought into planning. Who is going to play what game, how are we going to manage our players, what is the specific game plan and strategy for the relevant opposition. And also how we prepare for specific games,” said Boa Athu who became Director of Coaching at Manukau Rovers four years ago.
At the end of the round-robin stage, they were in second position after playing 12 matches, winning 10, losing one, drawing one, and gained a reputation as ‘comeback kings’. “Even the semifinal we won by one point again at the last minute against the Varsity team. Our main goal was actually to make the final four. We achieved that with three weeks to the end of the round robin. Then I knew something special was about to happen. The reason is four weeks before the round robin ended, we lost all our provincial and Test players because the National Provincial Championship was starting in Auckland while Tonga and Samoa were playing in the Pacific Nations Cup,” he said. Sione Tuipolotu (Tonga and Auckland - Moana Pacifica), Vaiolini Ekusai (Tonga, Auckland and Blues) and Josh Gray (Samoa 7s) were some of the key players missing during the business end of the tournament.
“We were actually left with the least experienced guys but because we had trained together, done the planning and we worked with these guys in a methodical manner, they knew what to do. I think that worked in our favour because at the end of the day, rugby is a team game. You can have all the star players you want but if they don’t play together, it is just ineffective. That’s what won us the title. We used a lot of rugby IQ (intelligence) off the field and on the field. Our goal kicking was on point. Whenever we get a kickable penalty, we always take the points. It reduces scoreboard pressure and also at the same time, we can stop the game, get the guys thinking, and get messages across when water is on, and we can reset basically. It really worked for us,” said Boa Athu.
Come the final, Manukau Rovers found themselves in familiar territory trailing 15-6 at the interval. A second-half try put Manukau Rovers briefly ahead 17-15 before Ponsonby skipper slotted home a brilliant 55-metre penalty from an angle to put them in front. “We are very good at chasing the game. We are always good at coming back in the second half. We were trailing but because we were within touching distance, I was very confident. We have a very good bench with lots of experience. Once our finishers came off the bench, we just kept hammering, we just kept attacking their goal line to score a try with 10 minutes to go. When they went back into the lead 18-17, almost for five minutes we were relentless and after that pressure, we won a penalty 40 metres out, and our fly half did the business, and as he kicked that was the final whistle. We won the shield. It was a fairytale finish,” he said.
Asked whether he believed they would win he said: “100 per cent I always believed that we would win. It was just a matter of how because we had done it five times before in round robin (coming back) against really quality opposition. In fact, we beat a team which had nine Super Rugby players winning 32-31 after trailing 31-7.”
To a query as to why they kept it late most often, he said: “In sport there are certain teams, they just prefer to chase. From a coaching point of view sometimes you have to trust the players. To follow their instinct. It’s really hard sometimes as a coach because you want to go and try and fix it. Sometimes you have to just back off and let the players trust what they do.”
Another reason for their success was accountability. “With this team, we have a very strong culture of accountability. If you make a mistake, we have to figure out how to fix it, how to get back into the game. We did a lot of mental preparation.”
Putting his coach’s hat on again he said: “In coaching, most coaches will only teach their players how to physically go over at times. Practicing moves, whatever it is. Very rarely you actually coach the mental side of it. We put a lot of focus and emphasis on how to mentally make sure we win and stay in the game. That was something very useful in the end.”
It came in handy especially when they lost key players. “We prepared for this. We knew what the dates were. People lined up to get a slot in. That’s where planning and preparation really worked,” he said.
“For me, I felt like I waited a lifetime doing this. Outside of winning the Bradby Shield, this is my biggest achievement. I was one of those lucky guys to play club rugby while in school and played for CH. That taught me a lot,” said Boa Athu paying a glowing tribute to rugby legend Chandrishan Perera.
“I was good enough to play with some big names such as Nalaka Weerakkody and Priyantha Ekanayake. You have to be really good to play in a champion side. That taught me a lot at a very young age, what is required to win. One of the guys who taught me on and off the field was the late great Chandrishan Perera. He was like my mentor,” said Boa Athu fondly recalling sharing the commentary box with Shan and SW Chang during the Bradby Shield in 2018.
His next level is achieving full-time professionalism but has a lot to offer as a coach educator. In addition, he is looking to take his innovative Safe Tackle Framework (STF) which is being trialled in New Zealand this season, globally. “I am looking at taking it global over the next three to four years. My big goal is STF and make it a part of rugby. We will gather all that data and present it to New Zealand Rugby. Once we go through the process, we will present it to World Rugby,” he said.
“The objective is to minimise and eliminate concussions, head contact and keep players safe. We have a safe line across the jersey at chest level. Aim is to tackle below the line. Simple,” said Boa Athu who believes STF will become a game changer.