Destounis to line up against Hikurangi

KEY MAN: Hikurangi’s Kris Palmer, here in action for Ngati Porou East Coast in their 26-8 win against Poverty Bay at the weekend, will be influential in his club’s performance against Tokomaru United in East Coast club rugby at Whakarua Park, Ruatoria, on Saturday. Picture by Paul Rickard

TOKOMARU United are looking forward to unleashing East Coast triple try-scorer Stefan Destounis against Hikurangi in the ninth round of the Ngati Porou East Coast club rugby competition on Saturday.

Destounis will be with United for the rest of the club games, but will return to the United States before the Heartland season begins, team coach Joe Chaffey said.

Following a rest over Queen’s Birthday Weekend, second-placed Tokomaru United will be injury-free when they head to Whakarua Park to take on Hikurangi, a side showing a marked improvement on previous form when they played Uawa on May 28.

Hiku will hope to make the competition’s top four, and the key to their chances will be in the backs — their forwards have been relatively strong all through the season.

Both Palmer brothers have been strong performers for Hikurangi, and supporters will be interested to see whether Kris plays at first-five or fullback. Either way, Hiku can expect a strong input from him.

Uawa are fresh from a narrow loss to Hiku, and will take a strong team to Te Araroa to avoid a repetition on Saturday.

Tokararangi would have players out with injury and illness, player-coach Morgan Wirepa jr told The Gisborne Herald, but they should still field a competitive team.

Up the road at Hicks Bay, the local team will host Waiapu. Although Hicks Bay are near the bottom of the table, they are not to be discounted — they won the first half against top-placed Uawa in Round 7 and may well spring another surprise.

Waiapu have been well led this season by player-coach Tripoli Poi, and are among the contenders for a top-four spot. Their most recent win was 88-2 against Tawhiti, so they will be hanging out for another win.

The fourth game of the round is between Tawhiti and TVC at Tokomaru Bay Domain. TVC have not travelled well to games at the southern end of the rohe this season, so it could be a chance for Tawhiti to make inroads.

Ruatoria City have the bye this weekend.