11.30am: Te Kura Mana Māori o Whangaparāoa, Tikirau Victory Club v Hikurangi (Joe Coleman, Jimmy Green, Katarina Haerewa).
Uawa are the dark horses.
And with the knockout semifinals of the Heke-o-Te-Rangi Blackbee Contractors Ngāti Porou East Coast (NPEC) men’s club competition all go on Saturday, they could not be travelling to face a bigger challenge than the No 1 qualifiers – Tihirau Victory Club.
Top seeds TVC are hosting No 4-ranked Ūawa at Te Kura Mana Māori o Whangaparāoa – the same venue they met at in round-robin play, with TVC winning 29-24.
The other semi features No 2 Tokararangi, at their Kawakawa Mai Tawhiti base, against No 3 Waiapu.
Ūawa’s “Big Blue Crew” go in with a record of four wins and three losses this season, the most recent of those a 64-0 overwhelming by Tokararangi.
TVC began their campaign with a 33-13 win against reigning champions Waiapu, and it set the tone for a perfect run to the semis, although they were pushed all the way in games against Tokararangi (19-18 in week 4) and Ūawa.
TVC are the only team this season to have beaten Tokararangi, who won five games and drew 34-all with semifinal opponents Waiapu, who won four games and lost two.
A 36-24 win over Hikurangi a fortnight ago, in which player-coach Israel Brown scored a hat-trick of tries, and last weekend’s drubbing of Ūawa have given Tokararangi momentum.
And it is that ability to come into form at the right time, to peak and produce in the semis, that influential players crave.
Waiapu led Ruatōria City 16-10 in last year’s final before winning the Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield 19-18.
From top to bottom, they, like their player-coach Perrin Manuel and captain Richard Green, are physical and experts at set-piece play.
Green is a top lineout forward, as is Dyllyn Evans of Tokararangi. The battle for lineout supremacy will be an interesting one, but of even more interest will be the teams’ tactics.
Will they favour ball in hand or look to pin the opposition in their own half by means of the boot?
Heading into the semis, NPEC chief executive LeRoy Kururangi had a clear and timely message for the Sky Blue rugby community.
“We just need to remind everyone that our referees are human and remind the supporters not to become wayward,” he said.
The Enterprise Cars NPEC women’s club game between Ruatōria City and Tokararangi will be a milestone one for City players Harmony Mangu and Rena-Deane Goldsmith – their 20th caps for City.
Meanwhile, it is a huge weekend of rugby at home and away for Ngāti Porou players.
Props Jared Proffit and Kershawl Sykes-Martin, local Isaia Walker-Leawere and openside flanker Jahrome Brown are in the Māori All Blacks starting 15, while halfback Kemara Hauiti-Parapara is on the bench for their game against Scotland on Saturday.
Gisborne-born-and-bred Fergus Burke has been named among the back reserves for Scotland for the 3.35pm clash in Whangārei.
The 1.05pm curtain-raiser – a 58-player World Cup trials game between the Black Ferns and Black Ferns XV – will also feature Ngāti Porou and Gisborne-connected players.
Tokararangi’s Jordyn Tihore, now playing for Whakarewarewa in Rotorua, is on the bench for the Black Ferns XV, who will have Gisborne’s Kelsey Teneti starting at centre.
Gisborne’s Renee Holmes is on the bench for the Black Ferns.
