“There’s a good vibe in the team and our boys have trained well for this, knowing that Tokararangi aren’t going to gift us a win — we have to take the game to them.”
The Israel Brown-led Tokararangi are likewise aware of what is at stake — a place in next weekend’s final and the chance to contest the championship for the first time since July 18, 2015, when their mud-splattered skipper Donny Mill held the Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield aloft at Te Araroa Domain after a 14-5 win over Hicks Bay.
“It’s do-or-die rugby now, we’re as ready as we’ll ever be and good to go,” said Tokararangi player-coach Morgan Wirepa junior.
“We have a few injuries in the backs that we can cover but it’s Hikurangi, so we need to work hard everywhere.”
Hikurangi has an excellent forward pack well-suited to battle at close quarters in either favourable (16 degrees is the predicted temperature) or wet conditions.
They have a powerhouse front row in George Tuala, Ngarimu Parata and veteran Joey Keelan, and danger in the backs in the form of wingers Fabyan Kahaki and Zyon Collins, halfback Neihana Ratahi-Brown and fullback Te Aho Matua Morice.
Kahaki, Collins and Ratahi Brown have shown they know where the tryline is while Morice is the competition’s leading points-scorer, his 110 including five tries.
Tokararangi have the competition’s top two try-scorers in first-five Pamona Samupo (11) and winger Te Aho Haenga (10), backed up by left-winger Teina Potae (6).
The teams were supposed to meet last weekend but with no referee available, hosts Toka chose to default.
Their only other meeting this season was week 7, with Morice, at first five, scoring a try and kicking a penalty and three conversions in a 29-19 win.
Uawa v Tihirau Victory Club
The Uawa-TVC semi has all the makings of a classic.
In their two other meetings this season, TVC won 13-10 on May 12 — ending Uawa’s five-match unbeaten run — and the teams drew 10-all on July 7.
Blindside flanker Rikki Kernohan was Uawa’s player of the day in the drawn game and captain/lock Scott Lasenby is demanding the same performance from numbers 1 to 22.
“TVC are the defending champions and have our respect,” said Lasenby. “They always play hard and fast, and never give up. We have to be clinical in every aspect and play like it’s our last game.”
Since they beat Waiapu 64-8 in the season-opener, Uawa have been consistently powerful up front. There is also competition for jerseys, with three players from last year’s Uawa under-18 team wanting in on the big stage.
Chilean flyer Oscar Canseca Munoz has had an excellent first season for the home team and would love to add to his tally of six tries this year. Niao Savage, Jessie Rye and BJ Sidney also have six tries apiece while Jordan Birch has seven.
Uawa clearly have firepower on the extremities and a parochial crowd to will them on, but what really makes fronting up to the men in blue a daunting prospect is their size. The pack, in particular, is huge.
“The big boys are champing at the bit so we’ll use them to hit the ball up, draw TVC in and open up holes,” said Uawa coach Tip Nukunuku.
The Whetu Haerewa-coached TVC have reason to be quietly confident. They go into the semi having won 10 and drawn two of their 14 games.
The reigning champions got a wake-up call early in the season when Ruatoria City almost tipped them up. TVC held on for a 27-all draw and were reminded of the ability of Coast clubs to play above themselves, and that no team are untouchable.
TVC captain/second-five Moana Mato has inside him a game-breaker in Verdon Bartlett — a fearless first five, who, given any opportunity, can blow a game wide open. Bartlett puts pressure on even experienced defenders with his strength and ability to squirm out of tackles.
The visitors’ pack includes tighthead prop Josh McDonald and No.8 Hoani Te Moana. Both are influential, with Te Moana scoring a double last weekend in their 68-19 win against Hicks Bay — a match that gave the reigning champions the chance to recalibrate and test combinations.
TVC won the most exciting East Coast club rugby final in recent memory in 2017 — 24-21 over Hikurangi in extra time — and are capable of raising their game another notch.
But to get back to the grand stage, they have to overcome an Uawa unit determined to go one step further than their semifinal finish last year.
