Crowd can roar Magpies to victory

Jay Campbell says fans will play an "integral part" in helping the Magpies win the ITM Cup Championship semifinal in Napier on Saturday. Photo: Glenn Taylor

They won't have their names in the programme but they will get the chance to enjoy the day in the sun in more ways than one.

That's the promise of Hawke's Bay Rugby Union marketing manager Jay Campbell, who says fans - "the more the better" - will play an "integral part" in helping the Magpies win the ITM Cup Championship semifinal in Napier on Saturday.

A win over Bay of Plenty in Battle of the Bays 2 - four weeks after the Magpies beat the Steamers 23-17 win in a Ranfurly Shield cliffhanger - will see NPC grand final rugby back at McLean Park a week later, for the first time in 10 years.

"We need everyone there," he said. "They do play an integral part, which was obvious when the boys were down and out against Waikato last Saturday. When the call went out, the crowd roared and the Magpies came right back into it.

"They were disappointed they lost the Ranfurly Shield and really do want to do it for the supporters this week," he said.

About 3300 tickets have been sold for the game which starts at 2.35pm, preceded by the Women's NPC final between Auckland and Wellington, at midday, in Napier to fit in with the playoffs telecast schedule.

Mr Campbell said with fine weather forecast - the MetService says temperatures should be about 23C - a 7000-plus crowd is expected.

Playoffs were introduced to NPC rugby in 1992, and it was Bay of Plenty that Hawke's Bay beat 65-18 in the Magpies' first semifinal, a Division 2 home match in 1994. The year is most remembered, or forgotten, for the 18-20 loss to Southland in the final that followed in Invercargill.

The best-remembered finals footy in Napier was in 2001 when the Magpies beat team-of-the moment East Coast, a crowd of about 15,000 the biggest for an inter-provincial match at McLean Park since the 1960s.

Bay of Plenty then beat Hawke's Bay in a promotion-relegation game in Rotorua, the first of three consecutive times the Magpies lost promotion-relegation matches after winning the Division 2 final.

The last NPC final in Napier was another Division 2 showdown, a Magpies win over Nelson Bays in 2005.

The Magpies have an unbeaten home semifinals record and should they win on Saturday they will host either Wellington or Otago in the final, the first time Hawke's Bay will have faced either major-centre team in a playoff match.