Waikohu (15 competition points) lead the race for the Lee Brothers Shield, followed by YMP (10pts), Ngatapa (9pts), Pirates (5pts), HSOB (4pts) and OBM (2pts).
Tomorrow’s games in Week 4 kick off at 2.45pm. GT Shearing Waikohu play Contract Consultants HSOB at Te Karaka Domain (referees Mark Greene, Damien Macpherson, Charlie Johnson); East Coast Farm Vets YMP play Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates on Barry Park 1 (Royce Maynard, Paul Brown, David Stevenson); and defending champions Enterprise Cars OBM play Larsawn Ngatapa on Oval 1 (Les Thomas, Isaac Hughes, Hugh Fitzgerald).
HSOB have extra motivation to perform great deeds. Their loosehead prop, Russell Burns — who turned out for OBM from 2004 to 2009 and has 27 Poverty Bay caps — tomorrow plays his 100th game for HSOB since he joined the club in 2010.
Danny Boyle’s HSOB crew are bracing themselves.
“We’ve got injuries to manage and it’s going to be tough,” head coach Boyle said.
“We’ve had some success out at Te Karaka in the past few years but, make no mistake, it’s a step up. All we want to see is that little bit of improvement with each game.”
Captain and No.8 Tamanui Hill, fetcher Zane Boyle and hooker Matekairoa McGuire will be central to the HSOB forward effort. Tighthead prop Myles Muir-Tawa has been an asset at scrum-time, though he now has an injury (right hamstring) to manage.
Veteran James Warren, himself a High School Old Boys centurion, will start at second five-eighth for Hayden Stuart, who moves in one spot to first-five in place of Baxter Mackay, the blue-and-whites’ fullback in Week 4.
Waikohu — who, but for the lockdown, would have hosted Tiny White Opening Day at Te Karaka Domain on March 28 — will land on home turf for the first time this season unbeaten, with 14 points as their smallest margin of victory to date, 31 points as their biggest split. And as dominant as the Ra Broughton-coached side have looked to be at times, the truth is that they have not yet come close to hitting their straps.
Tighthead prop Jarryd Broughton, Tione Hubbard and Ethine Reeves are key players nursing injuries in Waikohu’s line-up even as the 2018 champions go into this match as white-hot favourites to win.
Ra Broughton said: “We’re slowly building, but have a lot to work on — for example, our play at the breakdown and staying connected defensively.”
While captain and hooker Geoff Pari, Kelvin Smith and Tane McGuire will all start tomorrow, the status of Tione Hubbard (Waikohu’s starting fullback in Week 3) and Ethine Reeves (their regular fullback, who came off the reserves bench last Saturday) may require regular first-five Smith and centre McGuire to rotate. Second-five Leroy Taiapa scored a first-half try against Ngatapa and former Taranaki and Manawatu representative Adrian Wyrill came off the bench, moving from openside flanker to No.8 to score in the second half of the game against Ngatapa.
Any team with the resources to not only cover creative backline personnel but bring forwards of the calibre of Wyrill on as desired, has enviable depth.
High School Old Boys’ Hill has a short, simple list of must-do tasks for his team tomorrow.
“We have to take it to them, hold on to the ball, build pressure and defend well,” said the 28-year-old skipper and Poverty Bay captain in 2019.
“Our new prop, James Jenkins, has shown great skill and strength — Willie Haenga at halfback is looking the fittest he’s ever been.
“I expect to see running rugby tomorrow.”
