Old rivals Poverty Bay and NPEC to face off at Gisborne’s Rugby Park

Onward together: Poverty Bay forwards Keanu Taumata (centre left) and Shayde Skudder take on the King Country defence at Rugby Park. They will be in the thick of the action against Ngati Porou East Coast tomorrow. Picture by Paul Rickard

The local derby between Poverty Bay and Ngati Porou East Coast will add another chapter to a storied history when the old rivals face off at Gisborne's Rugby Park tomorrow.

The Civil Project Solutions Poverty Bay squad will be eager to avenge their 28-21 loss from Queen's Birthday Weekend when they played NPEC in a pre-season fixture as part of the Coast's centenary celebrations.

While Poverty Bay have remained largely unchanged since that game, NPEC have seen their All Black influence change from having Nehe Milner-Skudder in their last encounter to having Ma'a Nonu starting from the bench tomorrow.

Poverty Bay co-coach Tom Cairns expects NPEC to have “all their guns on deck” for the game this weekend, but they have plans to shut down the explosive backline their opponents will bring.

“We're pretty proud of our local flavour . . . our guys have some skin in the game and blood in the dirt.

“They'll be up for the challenge.”

Cairns said the two teams always stepped up their intensity another level going into the local derby, and he expected nothing less this year.

NPEC will come into the game hot on the heels of a run of good form that saw them earn their first Heartland win in eight years a fortnight ago and a close call against West Coast last weekend.

They're now in the business end of the Heartland season and Cairns said he expected nothing to be left on the field as both teams fight for glory and the Anaru “Skip” Paenga Memorial Trophy.

Both teams have seen their game-plans shift substantially from their encounter in June, and will be eager to stretch the defence with their attacks down the flanks.

With fine weather forecast for tomorrow, expect a lot of open running from Poverty Bay. They have found success all season by quickly shifting the ball from one side of the ground to the other and will likely look to employ a similar strategy this weekend.

The Poverty Bay bench will have to be on form again if they want to find a winning strategy as a team. With powerful and strong players throughout the NPEC outfit, they will have to match their expected physicality head on if they want to find success.

This year, the team have shown through their performances that they do not need their star players, like fullback Andrew Tauatevalu (out injured), to win games. Despite not having several of their preferred players in important roles, the players in the squad are more than capable of filling holes left by the key playmaker's absence.

Throughout this season, Poverty Bay have time and time again plugged their gaps through unavailability that looked insurmountable.

The team members have built resilience and camaraderie that cannot be understated as they go into another good test of their mettle.