East Coast action all north of Waiapu

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

ALL the Ngati Porou East Coast club rugby action will be north of the Waiapu River on Saturday as the southern conference teams — Tawhiti, Tokomaru United and Uawa — have byes.

In this second-to-last round, TVC will host Hikurangi at Whangaparaoa, with both having had interesting runs this season and needing competition points to secure a spot in the semifinals.

TVC came out with all guns blazing at the start of the season, racking up 98 points in their first two games, and then went through a soft patch during which they lost three games and won one. However, this month TVC have re-engaged the turbochargers and scored 154 points in two games.

Hiku had a horror start to the season. In Round 1 the men from the mountain lost in the protest room, and in Round 2 they had their first loss to Ruatoria City in 10 years.

Then they had three weeks running without a game, due to the draw’s conference bye system, the union’s not having club games on long weekends and a win by default.

Although Hiku have a strong and effective forward pack, they had only one narrow win and a draw in the first seven weeks of the competition.

Things came right in Round 8 in late May, when they beat competition leaders Uawa. Hiku had brought in some backs who were also joining the East Coast squad.

Since then, Hiku have had two more wins to take them to second place in the competition. Look out for an extremely competitive game at Whangaparaoa.

Hicks Bay will host Ruatoria City on Saturday.

City began well by beating last year’s champions Tokararangi in the first round, and have continued to impress. They are skilled, well trained, and have a plan that they stick to most of the time. They also have a reliable kicker in Tim Barbarich, who can add vital points.

But it would be a brave man who wrote off Hicks Bay. They are without a win so far, although they have been competitive. They will play hard on Saturday, as will City, who want to move up from the fringe of the top four.

The third game on Saturday will be at Te Araroa between Tokararangi and Waiapu. Despite being placed sixth and seventh respectively, both teams are within easy reach of the competition’s top four.

Students of the East Coast competition will appreciate that the absence of many key players contributed to Toka’s 60-0 loss to TVC last week.

Player-coach Morgan Wirepa jr told The Gisborne Herald his squad should be near full strength on Saturday, although he expects a back injury will rule him out for the rest of the season.

Statistics show that Waiapu are not a team to be taken lightly. Their effective forward pack are skilled and last the distance well for such large men. They make plenty of ground in the loose, and keep the ball up to first five-eighth Tojo Maaka and his backline.

Waiapu have won four games this season, but in a couple more they were unlucky to lose.