Former Munster centre Rua Tipoki hasn’t lost the winning touch. The 37-year-old Ngati Porou East Coast captain/assistant coach won a Meads Cup – named after All Black legend Colin – recently. It was his and the club’s first.

It’s a remarkable achievement and one that means that the union, as they say in New Zealand, can claim to be the 15th-best provincial side in New Zealand.

It expanded Tipoki’s haul of silverware that includes a Heineken Cup winner’s medal with Munster picked up in 2008.

He has also won senior club titles in Auckland (Marist), Poverty Bay (Pirates) and East Coast (Waiapu), to go with a Ranfurly Shield for two provinces (Bay of Plenty and Harbour).