Olmstead the star as Auckland win the Mitre 10 Cup
- 2209
Auckland win their first NPC final since 2007 and the man of the moment was Evan Olmstead.
Olmstead was nothing short of colossal during the game but noticeably during the 20 minutes of extra time when Auckland had to come from behind to win it. The Canadien made a number of important steals and turnovers and was a constant thorn in the side of Canterbury
Akira Ioane:
Ioane controlled the game well off the base of the scrum and his brute strength gave Auckland much needed front foot ball. His efforts on the day were rewarded by a try in the final.
Jordan Trainor:
Trainor was a threat from the back with ball in hand but on a night when the rain looked to dampen things he came up with a number of pin point kicks to keep Canterbury under pressure.
Luke Romano:
The out of favor All black has had a huge season for Canterbury and continued that form in the final where he made some big carries and runs and was solid on defence