FINAL TIME: Jayden Horn of Hastings West (left) and Quaid Hanna of Napier West are likely to clash in today's final again. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND
FINAL TIME: Jayden Horn of Hastings West (left) and Quaid Hanna of Napier West are likely to clash in today's final again. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND
Both camps are adamant on one thing ... today's Wakely Shield rugby final at Taradale will be close.
But if one was to take the confidence factor into account then defending champions Napier West will have the edge on their Hastings West counterparts in the midday final of the 13thannual tournament which caters for intermediate and primary school players under 50kgs.
"I'm confident. The boys have built since that 19-14 loss on Tuesday," Napier West coach Simon Lord said.
His team beat Hastings East 21-10 in their semifinal yesterday. Co-captains, No 8 Jayden Murphy and lock Sam Smith, and flanker Addison Cockroft were inspirational in the Napier pack while winger Reef Johansen made the most of his opportunities in the winning backline.
"Napier wanted it more. We made a couple of handlng errors and there were times when the ball didn't go our way," Hastings East coach Kieran Horsefield said.
Lock Michael Lansdown, prop Connor Frith and flanker Jayden Kainga-Shortt were all prominent for Horsefield's outfit.
Hastings West completed an unbeaten run to the final with a 53-14 win against the Saracens. Winning coach Craig Wellington said while it was a polished team effort from his troops the score didn't reflect the extent of Saracens competitive effort and he was expecting a tough final.
Central beat Wairoa 21-10 in yesterday's other match which Central coach Paul Yarrell described as a bruising encounter. Halfback Wallace Greville, lock Roan Berge and prop Sam Bartram were the pick of the Central players. Today's other games will see Saracens take on Hastings East in the tussle for third, Napier East play Central for fifth and the Leahy Plate and Wairoa will take on an invitation side containing reserves from the other six teams.
