Ngati Porou East Coast out to shake up the city in Heartland Championship

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

Ngati Porou East Coast love nothing more than to give this city a shake-up and that's how what they plan to do tomorrow.

Civil Project Solutions Poverty Bay will host Ngati Porou East Coast from 2.30pm at Rugby Park, in Week 7 of the Heartland Championship.

NPEC beat the Bay 28-21 to claim the PJ Sayers Cup on June 5 at Enterprise Cars Whakarua Park in Ruatoria, and the Sky Blues' first win against the men in scarlet for five years.

That spirited posse celebrated their centenary at Queen's Birthday Weekend with just a converted try between the Sky Blues and the men in scarlett.

In the 170 games between the two battling brothers, NPEC have won 40 to the Bay's 125, with five draws since the Bay's 19-18 win at Tolaga Bay on June 2, 1923.

But life is for living, the here and now is all that matters; both the Tom Cairns-Miah Nikora coached Bay and Hosea Gear's tight Coast unit will be focused.

The Bay (17 competition points) are placed seventh of 12 and are capable of making the Lochore Cup final for third and fourth in the Heartland Championship. A maximum of 10 points would see them get to 27, after round-robin play winds up on November 6.

The Coast (10 points) have a mathematical chance to go on but in truth the Sky Blues versus Poverty Bay tomorrow is as much about a legacy and tradition, with some numbers being more important than others.

NPEC first-five Te Rangi Fraser, the leading point-scorer in the championship (69), cares less about his statistics than he does about honouring Sky Blues' captain blindside flanker Hone Haerewa (Coastie No.1106) in his 50th game for the visitors. Rake Peter Mirrielees (44 Otago caps, 5 NPEC caps, NPEC player No.1204) will tomorrow play his 50th first-class game.

Fraser is second-leading try-scorer to Mid-Canterbury No.8 Seta Koroitamana (seven tries) with six, while NPEC halfback Sam Parkes is third-equal with five. The relevance of this isn't a decimal point. The relevance is that Fraser and Parkes can both run, pass, kick when in possession, tackle and take a good hit themselves into the bargain.

The visitors will have to.

Coming their way is a Poverty Bay team that played really well at Ashburton, their hosts carrying the day 22-19 in golden point extra time. Goal-kicking and field position will be extremely important in what has been forecast to be wet weather. The Bay and The Coast both have good, rugged forwards whose ability to carry and retain possession is always crucial — but now more than ever.

The backs will need to make metres also and their lighter members have to know at all times that to be isolated will result in their being stripped of the ball.

However elusive and creative the likes of NPEC fullback Hamuera Moana and Poverty Bay left-wing Tione Hubbard may be at time of writing, their kind will triple in value if — however many or however few metres they make — they can ensure the ball stays with their side.

Much may come down to South Canterbury referee Chris Paul's judgement at the ruck tomorrow: the biggest calls made may relate to whether or not a tackled player has released the ball, whether or not a tackler rolled away (or indeed, could roll away).

These things are the maddening but juicy aspects of rugby that are the subject of unending debate.

And tomorrow Paul, 30, his assistant referees Royce Maynard (AR1) and Matk Greene (AR2), must manage all that and more.