Tana’s men keep the faith to triumph again at the Tens

Tana Umaga's star-studded BGC Dragons were down and out early but stormed back to beat Tradition YCAC 29-14 in the Cup final of the GFI HKFC Tens yesterday.

It was the second time in three years that the BGC Dragons had triumphed at the Hong Kong Football Club.

Australia legend George Smith captained the multinational squad, which included former Wallaby Radike Samo, "Samoan bulldozer" Alesana Tuilagi and Fijian legend Rupeni Caucau, while Leo Naikasau - scorer of two tries in the final - was one of two players from Fiji's winning squad at last weekend's Tokyo Sevens.

BGC Dragons earlier beat sister side Carinat Dragons 38-0 in the second semi-final, but the two squads formed a circle after the final to celebrate the Cup success, with Umaga and Smith leading the speeches, which were soon followed by songs.

"It has been a pretty special week. We've had a big group and there has been a lot of different cultures meshing together," said Umaga, head coach of the BGC Dragons for a third straight year.

"Playing each other in the semi-final meant a lot to these guys. I think the great thing for us is that rugby is the thing that brought us all together. We played for each other and that's what rugby does."

Umaga, 40, was proud of his first team, who trailed 14-0 early against an impressive YCAC side full of top-quality New Zealanders, but the All Blacks legend said he had faith in his own players.