Nikora's side will challenge for the Paenga Memorial Shield and defend the Bill Osborne Taonga, named for the New Zealand Rugby president and former All Black.
It could be a grind: rain is on the cards, as are sou'easterlies and a temperature of 12 degrees.
Nikora said: “We're preparing for what's always a tough battle against the Coast. Also, the physicality and pace pick up in derby games — so our mindset around that is key.”
Coast head coach Hosea Gear said: “We've just got to take the opportunities that we're creating, although we have a few injury niggles too. That will dictate, to an extent, how we play.”
The quality of Nikora and Gear, their rugby acumen, is a great thing for local players to be exposed to. Those players' skills and ability to read play and adjust to difficult conditions will be tested tomorrow.
The Bay are placed 10th of 12 teams, with one win (30-26 against Wairarapa-Bush here on August 27) and four competition points after three rounds.
The Coast are in eighth spot. They beat Mid-Canterbury away for only the second time in nine trips — 36-34 a fortnight ago — and have five points.
Both sides began with losses (Horowhenua-Kapiti beat the Sky Blues 32-14 in Ruatoria; King Country beat the Bay 30-22 at Te Kuiti), both then tasted victory, and then once more defeat. Buller beat the Bay 48-20 in Westport and Whanganui beat the Coast 34-18 at Ruatoria.
Both the Bay and the Coast have improved significantly. No side in the competition could have started as well as the Bay did at home against the Bush: their urgency and continuity from kick-off were amazing. Some of the passing movements they put together that day were sensational. The odds are high that tighthead prop James Higgins was as big a handful, ball in hand, on that day as the men from Masterton will encounter in the next two months.
The Coast did not concede a point to Whanganui in the last 20 minutes of the match at Ruatoria: at that stage of games destined to be lost, the opposition have run amok. The Coast scored the last try of the game — a beauty — but it was not the result of a no-look lob here or a nutty chip-kick there. NPEC reserve left wing Fabyan Kahaki scored in the corner from five metres out, off the magnificent clearing pass from a ruck of captain and halfback Sam Parkes on full time.
Sky Blues first five-eighth Carlos Kemp converted that try from the sideline and his kicking game in general play, as well as his high-quality goal-kicking, must be at their best tomorrow for the Coast to take their second win of the season.
For Poverty Bay, long-serving halfback Mario Counsell (70 caps) and hooker Shayde Skudder are vital cogs in their machine.
Skudder, at lineout, scrum and beyond set-piece, is excellent value consistently.
Horowhenua-Kapiti coach Chris Wilton shared this insight, that lineout work on the ground, deception and team-work, are more important now than ever. Bay locks Morgan Reedy and captain Dan Law, along with openside flanker Keanu Taumata, are genuine ball-winners.
The Coast will be without second-row forward Boston Hunt, a loan player from Norths in Wellington, who was outstanding against the 'Nua in the season opener.
Law said: “Our huge work-on is our lineout, which just wasn't accurate enough last weekend.
“Our scrums have been going well and there's a big push for spots as guys get back from injury, so everyone is training hard to stay in the 15 or 23.”
Sam Parkes is up for the big game, ravenous horde in tow: “Our boys are frothing to get their hands on Poverty Bay — another win will catapult our campaign forward.”
Parkes is dynamic, a make-or-break player and Meads Cup winner. Law is a true-hearted team man whose solidity and integrity are universally respected. Both squads know and understand the history and status of the fixture in the eyes of the community, and if they needed another reason to shine, tomorrow's game will be broadcast live on Prime and Sky Sport Select (digital 50) from 2.30pm.
The referee for the match is 31-year-old Tauranga Boys' College physical education teacher Andy Morton, who hails from Manchester. He impressed both the Poverty Bay and Ngāti Porou East Coast camps on his first-class debut at Whakarua Park, Ruatoria, at Queen's Birthday Weekend. Morton will equal the number of first-class games — five — controlled by his fellow Heartland official Damien Macpherson (Assistant Referee 1); Macpherson and Mark Greene (AR2) are both Poverty Bay officials.
