Points to prove

STEPPING UP: OBM first five-eighth Jake Holmes (left) was prepared to take on the defensive line against YMP. Pictures by Paul Rickard

“Two sides with a point to prove” is how High School Old Boys coach Scott Leighton sums up tomorrow’s rugby clash between his team and YMP.

YMP had their first loss of the season in Poverty Bay premier club rugby last Saturday, and HSOB lost a game they were in a position to win.

The teams are first and third on the points table and Earthwork Solutions HSOB coach Leighton expects both to be determined to bounce back.

YMP were beaten convincingly by Enterprise Cars OBM at Rugby Park last week and didn’t play with their usual pep.

But Leighton was disappointed his side didn’t quite get the job done against GT Shearing Waikohu, suggesting they were “out-passioned”.

Last weekend’s results showed how even the competition was, he said.

“All the top four, on their day, can beat each other,” Leighton said.

“You can’t afford to have a bad week.”

HSOB have a 50 percent win-loss record this season but they’ve picked up six bonus points, including two last week for a narrow loss and scoring four tries.

They have a solid forward pack and will be out to even the ledger at the Oval after losing to YMP in Round 2.

YMP coach Steve Smith said his team were hurting after their loss to OBM.

Stefan Destounis would be a threat for HSOB at No.7, just as OBM’s Adrian Wyrill was last week.

“We’ve got to hold on to the ball and starve them of the ball,” Smith said.

YMP centre Whaimotu Craft-Chemis is due to return to action after a head knock but Smith is wary of “rushing him straight back in”. He might come off the bench.

Smith said the team put in a lot of work and conditioning and they “do like the winning feeling”.

“It’s not going to take much to fire up.”

OBM coach Trevor Crosby said his team enjoyed their victory over YMP but they have refocused ahead of their match against Larsawn Ngatapa at the Oval.

“Ngatapa are a side that can get up. We have to be on our game again.”

Mark Atkins returns at second five-eighth for OBM.

Though he gave away a couple of penalties, Jake Holmes was terrific at No.10 for OBM last week, leading the backline and taking on the defensive line.

“He tackled his heart out, the last few weeks,” Crosby said.

“He has improved his defence. He’s the general for our team, leading our team around the field.”

With halfback Willy Grogan also going well, there’s a case for playing him at 9 for Poverty Bay, Holmes at 10 and Atkins at 12.

The Poverty Bay selectors are due to name their side early next week for the Queen’s Birthday Weekend fixture against Ngati Porou East Coast.

After an underwhelming performance against Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates-GMC, Ngatapa coach Steve Hickey said a few of his players had “personal points to prove”.

Hickey pointed out that they played well against HSOB, Waikohu and YMP.

“We dropped our level last weekend. We’ve got to take up the challenge.”

Loose forward Tom Sanson is out with injury, so Ned George is set to start.

Waikohu coach Jason Tuapawa said he would be keeping the same starting 15 for their game against Pirates-GMC at Rugby Park.

That includes retaining Ethine Reeves at second five-eighth and Larry Fleming at fullback.

The champs are starting to click and Tuapawa hopes they can maintain their momentum.

Pirates-GMC player-coach Willie Waitoa said a 14-7 loss last week was a lot better than their previous results.

“We want to carry on from where we left off last week. We’ll give it a good nudge.

“We’re under no illusions — it will be a hard game against Waikohu.”