Since 2005 Nelson College have been a perennial bridesmaid to Wellington College in the annual quadrangular tournament final.
The southerners had failed to win the title outright for ten consecutive years. In 2008 (27-0) and 2010 (36-11) they were walloped, but by and large Nelson have suffered agonising defeats.
In 2011 Wellington fullback Andrew Quinlivan ran the length of the field to win a thriller.
In 2012 Nathan Blundell scored on fulltime to secure Wellington a share of the honours.
In 2014 Nelson lost 5-0. Prop Sitiveni Paongo scored a try for Wellington in the second-half. Nelson won the ruck and maul count by 118-59!
The 2015 decider was a brutal affair that appeared to be headed in a similar direction.
Nelson started strongly and halfback Matt Soper nudged his side ahead 6-0 by slotting two penalties.
However Nelson failed to capitalise on their sizable advantage in possession and territory and by halftime Wellington had halved the deficit.
To complicate matters key openside Jake Amlehn was struggling badly. After ten minutes he temporarily left the field to visit the blood bin.
“I took a hit on the nose so I had to rush to the sideline and get it tapped up,” Amlehn recalls.
Back on the field Amlehn was involved in a head clash which left him nursing a vicious cut above the left eye. Amlehn has little recollection of how the injury occurred.
“I think I went to make a tackle and came off second best. To be honest I couldn’t see a lot, but the adrenaline pushed me through.”
At halftime Amlehn would have been entitled to leave the field. However all parties agreed he should carry on.
“I had a drink of water, got some new tape and a bit of Vaseline. I was raring to go,” Amlehn says.
The second-half was a gritty arm-wrestle. The Nelson game plan didn’t really work.
“We knew they would came out strong so we wanted to shut them down by matching them physically. However they got on top and we just had to hang in,” Amlehn concedes.
Amlehn’s own condition was deteriorating.
“I felt a bit disorientated. I was tired and couldn’t see,” he says.
Still Amlehn poached several turnovers as the game became a stalemate.
With a minute left there had been no scoring in the second-half. Wellington had the ball 40-meters out from the Nelson line and launched one more attack.
A Wellington attacker was isolated and Amlehn poached a textbook turnover. Nelson kicked the ball out and the game was over – the quad drought was over.
“It was just surreal when the final whistle went, “Amlehn says.
“Even our headmaster couldn’t contain himself. The Wellington players were crying, that’s how much this tournament means to us.”
Amlehn says it was especially satisfying to win the final after losing both the Quad and UC Championship deciders last season.
Amlehn’s trip back to Nelson wasn’t particularly satisfying. He caught the Ferry with the team just after 6pm. He arrived home at 11:30pm and then had to wait until 3am in A&E to receive five stitches to his cut.
He will attend the Crusaders Knights camp next week for the best young talent in the region, but won’t participate in the contact sessions
Jake is the brother of Ryan Amlehn who in 2010 won the Under-16 World Laser 4.7 sailing championships.