Forbes' massive ball-carrying effort helps team to vital win
31st August 2009 02:29PM
Story from the Waikato Times
Hikairo Forbes was not looking forward to the steep climb up the tunnel to the changing rooms at Pukekohe on Saturday.
The unsung hero of Waikato's tight forward effort had played himself to a standstill in an 80-minute effort to help his team get a desperately needed victory.
"I'm absolutely tired and ready for the trip home on the bus," Forbes, 23, said after his big ball-carrying effort had carried the Mooloo men regularly over the advantage line.
"I've emptied everything out. I think I'm going to struggle walking up that hill there, but I went out there to try and give it my best and make myself available wherever.
"But to come away with a win, having played a full game, I'm just really pleased," said Forbes, whose club season and then pre-season for Waikato was ruined by a broken wrist.
While Ben May came off the bench to replace Nathan White at tight-head prop in the second half, to add further impetus to a strong Waikato scrummaging effort, Forbes just kept on trucking forward.
"We don't have a lot to be upset about today. We didn't get a bonus point but a win's good enough for me and we can look forward to next week (against Hawke's Bay).
"I think we did pretty well in the second half and managed to put a lot of pressure on near their line."
Forbes said it had been tough coming back from his three-month injury layoff and he was just trying to build on his match fitness each week. This was his second 80-minute effort of the season and it was no coincidence that the other also led to a victory for Waikato over Manawatu.
"For some reason today's game was a tough game. There was a lot of running and a lot of tackling and a lot of physical scrums it was draining."
Forbes said Waikato could now build on the weekend's effort as they contemplated this Saturday night's home match against Hawke's Bay.
"We've still got a lot to work on. We need to be better around the ruck area and finishing plays but we've given ourselves a good platform to work from."
