Taranaki have repelled a strong challenge from Hawke's Bay to claim their second National Provincial Championship crown 22-19 at New Plymouth.
After leaping out to an early lead with tries to midfielders Meihana Grindlay and Daniel Rona, the Bulls needed a penalty on the stroke of halftime to lead 15-14, but scored what would be the winning points with a try to halfback Adam Lennox soon after the restart, before defending that advantage to the end.
At the centre of their success was young first-five Josh Jacomb, who provided the offload for Grindlay's try, kicked the goal for the halftime lead and sparked the break for Lennox to seal the deal.
If they hoped to prevail, Hawke's Bay had to overcome history, with their last victory over Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium coming more than half century ago.
Down 12-0, they had a chance to challenge the scoreboard, when No.8 Marino Mikaele-Tu'u streaked towards the corner, but winger Kini Naholo covered expertly to drag him into touch short of the flag.
The Magpies finally broke their drought after a period of sustained pressure, when fullback Lolagi Visinia bounced off a tackler at close range to plunge over for a try.
They began to dominate possession and captain Tom Parsons capitalised on another assault with a try, converted by first-five Lincoln McClutchie to give the visitors the lead.
Grindlay gave Taranaki another sniff before halftime, breaking out of his own half, but his kick ahead eluded chasing fullback Stephen Perofeta.
With time up in the first half, the Bulls were still hot on attack and earned a penalty for Josh Jacomb to give his team the 15-14 lead at the break.
Soon after the restart, Jacomb ran from his own half and linked with Perofeta, with Lennox scoring to extend the advantage, but the wiry first-five could not halt rampaging lock Geoff Cridge, as Hawke's Bay struck back.
Moments later, the Bay forwards were held up over the tryline, probably their last best chance of snatching the win.
As both sides flexed their benches, Bay veteran and former All Black Brad Weber departed for possibly the last time on NZ soil, as he heads to France. His 50th appearance for the province finally eclipsed the 49 games by dad Neil, but ultimately, his tenure would end without the silverware.
Desperate to retake the lead in the dying moments - or at least draw a levelling penalty - Hawke's Bay mounted one last attack, but Perofeta broke clear to put his team at the right end of the field to hold on.
In the final seconds, the Taranaki pack overpowered their counterparts in a midfield scrum for a penalty that clinched the title for the second time.
"It's absolutely unreal," said Taranaki coach Neil Barnes, who turned around a team that missed the 2022 playoffs with just three wins from 10 games.
"At the end of the day, there can only be one winner - it's us and I'm happy about that, but I feel for them too. Hats off to all our young men who have worked hard and I'm really pleased for them.
"Last year, we had a hell of a lot of injuries at the start and lost some games that made it too hard to catch up. I always knew it was there - we were unbeaten the year before, and we just added more to our game and did a lot of hard work."
Taranaki 22 (Grindlay, Rona & Lennox tries; Jacomb 2 conversions & penalty) Hawke's Bay 19 (Visinia, Parsons & Cridge try; McClutchie 2 conversions)
