”I was just trying to zone everything out, but just line up the ball, count to four, and then kick and hope it goes over.“
For Tupou, he said it was a special moment in his career.
“It’s extra special to be honest,” Tupou told Sky Sport. “The first time I was probably a little bit young and naive and we had a pretty star studded team.
“To come back and be at the end part of my career and be able to give these boys the experience of what it does.
“It’s just been a tough old season for us this is our finals, so we came here and we just gave them everything and so I’m just so proud of this group.”
For Northland, there will be plenty of frustration as they were the dominant side for large periods, controlling possession and territory, while their set piece, particularly the scrum, buoyed by the return of All Blacks loose forward Simon Parker, was terrorising Counties.
But whenever they had the visitors on the ropes, an error prevented them from delivering the knockout blow.
Their reign with the Shield started last month, when they upset Canterbury to win it for the first time since 1978, and they went on to have successful defences against Tasman and Waikato. It was also their first home defeat of the season.
They also blew a chance to go top of the NPC standings heading into the final round of the season, with the table tightly contested at the top, with Hawke’s Bay and Otago also in the mix.
It was clear a tense match was on the cards before a ball was kicked when both teams closed in on each other as Northland performed their pre-game haka.
Northland started the better of the two teams and were rewarded when centurion halfback Sam Nock took advantage of a gap in the breakdown to dart over.
The hosts continued to dominate on attack, but couldn’t extend their lead. Eventually, momentum began to swing, and Counties were rewarded when Sione Molia pounced on a chip kick close to the line.
Northland continued to dominate territory, while their scrum was dominant, and they were eventually rewarded for their persistence when James Ramm dived over in the corner.
They should have added another before the break, but they couldn’t handle the ball close to the line.
Counties were the first to strike in the second half through Gibson Popoali’i with a simple drive close to the line, which made it a two-point game heading into the final quarter.
Northland did respond when Corey Evans crossed the line off a dominant scrum, but Reihana’s conversion attempt was charged down in a rare sight.
That proved crucial as the visitors would level after Morrison dived over in the corner before Alatimu slotted the sideline conversion to set up a thrilling finish.
Alatimu then stood up to kick the game-winning penalty, as Counties claimed just their third win of the season.
When Counties held the Shield in 2013, they beat Hawke’s Bay to win it and had six successful defences before losing it to the Magpies the following year.
Counties now have something to play for in their season finale, with the Shield going on the line for one last time on Saturday against Hawke’s Bay in Pukekohe.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.