Hikurangi ‘raring to go’ against Waiapu

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

IT WILL be a tough contest on Saturday when Waiapu play Hikurangi for the second time this season in Ngati Porou East Coast club rugby.

The two last met in the first round and Hiku won 11-10 on the paddock but lost in the protest room. As a result, Waiapu are now on the fringe of the competition’s top four, and Hiku are languishing in seventh place.

And the fact that Hiku have not played since their 18-14 loss to Ruatoria City four weeks ago means they will be injury-free and raring to go.

So the stage is set for determined rugby from both teams, evenly matched in the forwards and with a selection of useful backs.

Hiku manager Fred Haua said lock/loosie Reece Walker and prop George Tuala were back with the squad, who have been using the break to concentrate on fitness. Worth a trip to Rangitukia to watch this one.

Ruatoria City travel to Tolaga Bay to meet Uawa on Saturday. Uawa have a pristine record this year, as they did early in the 2015 season, but many in the team will remember that it was City who put an end to their winning streak last year.

However, it might be a bit harder for City to upset Uawa’s applecart this year. Uawa are the fittest team in the competition and are playing with a ton of confidence. Last weekend they nearly held the skilled TVC side scoreless as they kept to their plan and unleashed myriad skills.

City have had a much better start this year, winning two of their three games and showing tactical playmaking and cohesion.

Injuries cause changesCity manager Lorne Boyce-Goldsmith said injuries would mean a couple of changes to his team on Saturday.

Uawa co-coach Peter Crawford told The Gisborne Herald that the Tolaga Bay men were injury-free.

TVC beat Hicks Bay 34-7 in the first round, and they play again at Whangaparaoa on Saturday.

TVC will be helped by the great support of their community, but Hicks Bay can never be taken lightly. So far this season they are close to the bottom of the table, but last year they spent a bit of time down there before heading up into the final, where they lost to Tokararangi.

Time will tell whether we can learn anything from this. Both teams have shown this season that they can rack up the points when they want to. TVC put on 64 points when they beat Waiapu and 44 points when they lost to Tokararangi, and Hicks Bay scored 26 points in the second half last week.

Tokomaru United play Tawhiti at Tokomaru Bay.

Tokomaru have had a promising start to the season and are currently fourth-equal, while Tawhiti currently hold the wooden spoon.

However, Tawhiti played a much better game last week, when they held a rampaging Toka for the first and last 15 minutes of the game. So Saturday’s game could be closer than the last meeting of these teams. All games are at 2.30pm.

Tokararangi have the bye.