Kendra Cocksedge, known as one of the hardest working rugby players at Canterbury’s Rugby Park base, has received the finale she deserves in her 100th and last match for the red and blacks.
Cocksedge, hanging up her boots after next month’s World Cup in New Zealand, scored a try and kicked six goals in a typically influential performance as Canterbury beat Auckland 41-14 in the final of the Farah Palmer Cup in Christchurch on Saturday.
“It feels awesome. What a way to end with the red and blacks. Dominant performance with my mates, here at Rugby Park,” Cocksedge said afterwards.
It was Canterbury’s fifth title in six years and it was built on a dominant display from their pack, who had their taste for physicality questioned in the media by Auckland in the build-up to this match and who channelled their furious response superbly.
They led only 13-7 at the break in front of a good crowd at Rugby Park, re-named Te Ohaere-Fox Cocksedge Park in honour of the two retiring Canterbury veterans.
Prop Steph Te Ohaere-Fox came on as a replacement in the second half and immediately showed her value around the breakdown.
After two Cocksedge penalties to start the second half, they turned on the attacking flair for which they have become known, scoring three converted tries to run Auckland ragged.
Their scrum was far too powerful for the visitors, and a concerted shove, and panicked pass from Auckland allowed Cocksedge to steal in for a memorable intercept try, the 68th of her provincial career.
Cocksedge kicked another penalty for good measure with 14 minutes remaining before she was replaced to huge applause by the appreciative crowd.
"That's always a pretty cool feeling,” she said. “You never know if you're going to come off or stay on the field, it was quite cool to sub off and just enjoy that moment.
“That is what it was about this week for me, enjoying the moment and enjoying the game, having fun and just soaking it up."
Cocksedge’s points haul of 21 points allowed her to finish with a record 1085 points in her career which started against Otago in 2007.
And she was also instrumental in former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw handing out the jerseys in a team presentation before kick-off.
"I just flicked him a message during the week...straight away he said he'd be there,” she said. “He’s played in multiple finals. Steph read out his accolades, and it was just going on and on and on, because he's just the GOAT (greatest of all time).
“He was like, ‘I'm not going to speak for too long’, and I said ‘mate, your presence in the room is all that's needed,’” Cocksedge said.
"We've had a bit of adversity this year, and I just knew it was going to be a dominant performance, and we weren't going to let anyone crash our party at our house."
Canterbury coach Blair Baxter said: “This week, there was just something different about it, whether it was the emotion that was brewing, or the smack talk coming out of Auckland, I'm not sure,” he said.
“That was an exceptional game of footy.”
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