Not fazed who they play

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

WHO plays who in the semifinals of the Poverty Bay club rugby championship playoffs will be decided tomorrow afternoon at Paddy’s Park in Patutahi when Ngatapa host Pirates.

The winners will play in-form Earthwork Solutions High School Old Boys in the 2-versus-3 elimination semifinal the following weekend.

Pirates go into the match just two points adrift of third-placed Larsawn Ngatapa.

“We are expecting a pretty fired-up Pirates to turn up tomorrow,” said Ngatapa coach Will Faulks.

“They have been flying under the radar for the last month and this is an important game for both teams.”

Faulks said it did not bother his side who they played in the semifinals.

“If we want to win the Lee Brothers Shield we should be able to beat them all, and you cannot rule out any of the four teams that will play next weekend.”

Ngatapa have a couple of injury issues heading into tomorrow’s 2.45pm clash.

“Lock Grant Law is out and will be replaced by Richard Bayley. Cameron Rouden (back) is still injured but hopefully Anthony Karauria will be back for us,” Faulks said. “But basically it will be a pretty similar looking team to last week.

“I am looking for an 80-minute performance. Consistency has been a bit of an issue for us but we have a reasonably settled line-up this week so that should help fix that.

“We know we will have to play good rugby as a team to get a result.”

Pirates have been on the rise recently, with backs and forwards combining effectively as they demonstrated against Wairoa Athletic last Saturday.

They have impressed all season with the ability of their forwards but it is the evolution of their backline that has caught the eye in the past month.

Spearheaded by the impressive Whaimotu Craft-Chemis and fullback Pamona Samupo, they have pace and guile and will be a handful for Ngatapa.

“We just want to go out there tomorrow and put our best foot forward, as we have in every other game this season,” Pirates coach Willie Waitoa said. “We have a bit of momentum heading into the semifinals and we want to keep that going tomorrow.

“Unfortunately we have a couple of players away at the test match, and a couple of others out with work commitments. But we have got no excuses. We will go to Patutahi and give it heaps.”

Like Faulks, Pirates coach Willie Waitoa wasn’t fazed about who they will face in the playoffs — HSOB or top-of-the-table Aon Waikohu,

“No matter who you play in the semis, you have to win to play in the final. It is as simple as that.”

In other premier matches tomorrow, Waikohu should get a valuable warm-up for the playoffs when they face Enterprise Cars OBM at Te Karaka.

The Tahi Hiroki-coached Waikohu will be keen to return to their winning ways after consecutive losses following a nine-match winning streak.

Pride will be the incentive for OBM as they play their last game of the season after their top-four hopes were ended in a loss to Ngatapa last weekend.

As it will be for Wairoa’s Athletic and YMP in Wairoa when the curtain comes down on their campaigns.