“It is an amazingly tight competition to date,” Poverty Bay coach Tom Cairns said.
That has been evident not just on the points table but also on the park. Many games have been close.
The team now in 11th — Mid Canterbury — were worthy foes for Poverty Bay at Rugby Park last week and though they lost 52-38, they didn’t look like they belonged near the foot of the table.
“Tomorrow’s game against Horowhenua Kapiti will be similar to the Mid Canterbury match in that points are massively important to how the season will progress for Poverty Bay,” Cairns said.
A place in the top four is within reach but they need to keep on winning to put themselves in the frame for the Meads Cup (top four) playoffs.
Horowhenua Kapiti, holders of the Lochore Cup have had to field inexperienced line-ups this season and it was unclear this morning what the makeup of their side for tomorrow’s game would be.
The Lochore Cup is contested by the fifth-to-eighth-placed teams and Poverty Bay and Horowhenua Kapiti may yet find themselves in that territory.
Both teams have had a couple of narrow losses this season.
Injuries have sometimes prevented Poverty Bay from fielding settled line-ups as well. But they have always had strike power in the ranks.
“In attack, we have managed to foot it with every team we have played but we need to balance that by cutting out some of the soft moments in defence that have cost us in recent weeks,” Cairns said.
Every game now crucial for Horo Kapiti: coachThe team’s defence had sometimes been “immense” but the overall effort was “punctuated by the odd lapse that cost us on the scoreboard”.
“We cannot let teams off the hook at crucial times.”
Horowhenua-Kapiti are coming off a 35-19 victory over King Country.
“Horowhenua-Kapiti have some big forwards who are direct in their approach, electric backs and powerful midfielders who are capable of launching from anywhere,” Cairns said.
In changes to the Bay side for tomorrow, Myles Tawa is coming into the side at prop and Ethine Reeves will be back at centre in a reshuffled backline. Jake Holmes will slot in at fullback, with Beaudein Waaka still out with injury.
Horowhenua-Kapiti coach Chris Wilton said his squad had faced many challenges this season and it had got to the point where every game was crucial.
He had fielded 19 debutants this season — 16 of them in the first three weeks. They had two debutants last week.
Some players had been overseas with the New Zealand Defence Force rugby side, who also featured Poverty Bay prop Jody Allen.
Wilton said his team would need to rely on “more than passion and pride” to get a win against Poverty Bay. They would have to play smart as well.
North Otago, South Canterbury and West Coast lead the championship on 18 points. It could be a great help to Poverty Bay if Mid Canterbury (10 points) are able to knock over fourth-placed Thames Valley (16 points) tomorrow. It would also probably suit them if North Otago beat Wanganui, who are level with the Bay on 13 points.
Buller and Wairarapa Bush, both on 15 points, play each other tomorrow.That presents an opportunity for Poverty Bay to leapfrog at least one team on the ladder if they get the job done against Horowhenua-Kapiti.
POVERTY BAY: Jake Holmes, Andrew Tauatevalu, Ethine Reeves, Jacob Leaf, Scotty McKinley, Kelvin Smith, Willy Grogan, Tamanui Hill, Adrian Wyrill, Quade Tapsell, Gabe Te Kani, Ken Houkamau (c), Myles Tawa, Rikki Terekia, Toru Noanoa. Reserves: Matekaeroa McGuire, Semisi Akana, Juston Allen, Will Bolingford, Mario Counsell, Tane McGuire, Korey Love.
