NPC: Magpies aim to defend proud record under the roof in Dunedin

Folau Fakatava and Lolani Faleiva, both off the bench, securing Magpies possession in Sunday's season-opening win over Counties Manukau in Napier. They're on the bench again for this Sunday's match against Otago in Dunedin. Photo / Photosport

Having the Hawke’s Bay Magpies as favourites to beat Otago under the Forsyth Barr Stadium roof in Dunedin may be a rare NPC event.

But the $1.50 TAB odds on the Bay to win their match on Sunday, with the home side at $2.50, seem justified despite both sides winning their first round matches last weekend.

The Magpies had a 54-14 win over Counties Manukau in Napier, while Otago beat southern neighbours Southland 25-14 in Invercargill.

But the history, especially with the current experience in the squad named by head coach Brock James, adds to a picture that once might not have been as impressive,

Regular opponents over more than a century, Hawke’s Bay and Otago have met 65 times, with Otago winning 36 and Hawke’s Bay 27.

The Magpies have dominated in recent times, winning 10 of 13 matches dating back to a Ranfurly Shield challenge win in Dunedin in 2013, half of those wins being in Dunedin.

Other important Magpies wins were a championship division semifinal a week later, another championship semifinal win, by 44-39 in Napier in 2019, after it had been 31-31 at the end of the first 80 minutes, and a 28-9 result in another Ranfurly Shield challenge in Dunedin, in 2020.

The most recent match was Hawke’s Bay’s 33-32 win in Napier two years ago.

The Magpies head to Dunedin on Saturday with no injury issues hanging over from the game against Counties-Manukau, although James conceded on Friday morning there were still two training sessions to go, including the captain’s run in Napier.

Last Sunday’s squad of 23 has been retained.

Asked about needing to keep his squad’s feet on the ground after an eight-tries performance rated as one of the best of the first weekend, James said: “Every week’s a new challenge, and Otago play a very different game than Counties-Manukau”.

“They’ve got a good 15 around the park,” he said.

Established forward pack members Pouri Rakete-Stones, Jacob Devery, Geoff Cridge, Tom Parsons and Devan Flanders have about 370 Magpies appearances between them, highlighting the “consistency” James rates as a key factor in the team’s hopes.

Meanwhile, two Hawke’s Bay sides play NPC Heartland teams on Saturday.

The Hawke’s Bay Development team plays an annual match against Poverty Bay at Park Island on Saturday, at 1pm, and Te Matau-a-Māui Hawke’s Bay Māori play Wairarapa-Bush in Masterton.

The Central Hawke’s Bay sub-union ended its season being beaten 66-26 by Heartland side Ngati Porou East Coast last Saturday at Takapau, and on Sunday, the Wairoa sub-union’s Barry Cup reign ended with a 21-10 loss to Ruatoria in Wairoa.

Meanwhile, the Napier Boys’ High School First XV has a big job ahead in a Hurricanes region national secondary schools championship playoff against Super 8 winners Palmerston North BHS, in Palmerston North, on Saturday. Hastings BHS has a home game against Gisborne BHS.

The Lindisfarne College First XV’s hopes of winning the Central North Island (CNI) Schools competition ended with a 29-20 loss to Feilding Agricultural High School in Feilding last weekend.

The team now has a playoff against Wesley College on the finals day in Taupō on Saturday.

The Magpies’ next game will be against North Harbour, at McLean Park, Napier, on August 16, starting at 7.10pm, with the Hawke’s Bay Tui playing on the same pitch beforehand in their first Farah Palmer Cup women’s championship match this season.

Doug Laing has been a reporter for more than 52 years, more than 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, at the Central Hawke’s Bay Press, the Napier Daily Telegraph and Hawke’s Bay Today, since its establishment in 1999. He has covered most aspects of general news and sport, and is based in Napier.