Injuries may cut short Moeke’s foray in pack

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

PIRATES coach Steve Smith wants to keep TK Moeke as blindside flanker for tomorrow’s premier rugby match against High School Old Boys.

But Smith won’t make a final call until closer to kick-off.

“I’d love to keep TK there after last week, and not because he scored three tries,” Smith said.

“TK (who normally plays second five-eighth) gave the team real go-forward.

“Unfortunately, as well as Ken Houkamau (skipper and No.8) being injured, we have a few backs carrying injuries and I won’t be able to make a decision until tomorrow.

“It may be that I have no choice but to play TK in the backs.

“While Ken is definitely out, the others have injuries that are not major. But you never know how they’re going to pull up, even though we let them do light training.”

While Smith was happy with the 38 points his side scored against OBM last week, he was not amused when they conceded 66.

“We need to play for 80 minutes, not 50,” Smith said.

“One thing’s for sure: we need an 80-minute performance tomorrow. High School Old Boys are a good side but so are OBM, and we showed what we are capable of against them, particularly in the first half.

¦ Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates are bottom of the table but Woodbank HSOB coach Wayne Ensor is taking nothing for granted.

“A lot of our forwards are injured, and Pirates have a lot of good players,” said Ensor, who added locks Jarred Phelps and Tanieiu Miikosi to the injured list.

“Jarred is out for the season after breaking his thumb against YMP last week and Tani, who replaced Jarred, has an ankle injury.”

Farmvets YMP and Aon Waikohu will look to get their campaigns back on track after losing 20-8 to HSOB and 30-26 to Ngatapa respectively.

YMP are third on the table, with 17 points, eight behind OBM and 11 behind HSOB.

Waikohu (13pts) lost fourth spot to Ngatapa (14pts) after last week’s loss.

“We need to show some character this week,” Waikohu coach Tahi Hiroki said.

“Last week was disappointing in that we didn’t have the intensity we had when we beat HSOB the week before.

“I believe we’ve got the players to finish in the top four but it’s about points on the board.”

YMP squandered the opportunity to inflict a second successive loss on HSOB when they held the reigning champs to 8-0 at halftime, despite playing into a strong first-half wind.

The YMP forwards laid the foundation for a potential win by denying their opposites possession, while midfield backs Reihana Wyllie and Mike Kora tore holes in the HSOB defence.

But the Magpies kicked away far too much possession in the second half and had to be content with a try to their best player on the day, captain and No.8 Willis Tamatea.

HSOB first-five Scott Leighton inspired his side in the second half and — backed by skipper Jody Tuhaka, Miikosi and backs willing to get in and do the hard work — they emerged worthy winners.