Match Report

The scoreline alone was extraordinary enough, a match that produced a whopping 86 points with the home side finishing 44-42 ahead.

The first came from halfway when Tafua opened up a hole for halfback Jack Thompson to pour through with the dummy half backing up to score.

The second was produced as the Warriors went to their right edge, Norris hooking a kick back into the Tigers’ in-goal. It was threatening to go dead but Thompson hunted it down, flicking the ball back for Tafua to ground.

To say the contest was of the fast and furious type was then reinforced as the Warriors lost the early momentum allowing the Tigers to pounce with a run of four tries in the space of 20 minutes to go 22-12 ahead.

In the opening stages of the second half, the Warriors all but lost contact as the Tigers banged on three tries to hold a 38-16 advantage after 57 minutes.

The Warriors started squeezing, feeding off penalties and six-again calls before the Tigers were reduced to 12 with Jared Haywood sent to the sin bin with four minutes to play.

That man Norris was in it again shrugging off tackles on the left and then flicking the ball back infield where Thompson released a rampaging Paea Sikuvea. He dispensed of multiple defenders before off loading superbly for Tafua to complete a hat-trick. Conversion in front, no problem and it was 38-42 with a minute left.

Making big ground on the first three tackles after the restart, the Warriors went for the kill, heading left in search of the sublime Norris and the centre obliged in the most wondrous manner.

The conversion was a formality and the Warriors had another scarcely believable win. They might wonder how it came about - the Tigers will wonder how they let it happen.