Rugby: 'Confident' southerners getting ready to rumble

Jon Dampney

Only two or three of them have played at McLean Park, Napier, before but the occasion will not be lost on Mid Canterbury tonight.

"We don't have the luxury of the ITM Cup teams with money but we do it for love," captain Jon Dampney said yesterday following a quick training session at the park not long after the flight of the Ashburton men landed in Napier via Wellington.

"We're not here to come second so we'll deliver as a group," said the 32-year-old loosie before the third Ranfurly Shield defence from the Hawke's Bay Magpies this winter kicks off at 7.35pm.

The team comprises "a group of everyday people who have jobs" ranging from dairy farmers to bankers.

Having recovered from a calf injury to make the line-up, Dampney said the park was a great arena and the boys were looking forward to lapping up everything the shield challenge offers on prime-time television.

Weather will not be an issue for the southerners.

"It's a hell of a lot warmer here than what we're getting at home so the boys will enjoy it. They'll go out there and give it their all."

He was at the helm last year when Counties-Manukau beat them 46-10 in a shield match.

"We learned a lot that day. You have to step up to ITM Cup level where the game is faster, more physical and more skilful," Dampney said, reflecting on how it took his men almost 10 minutes to overcome a state of shellshock before easing into the game.

"It's another crack for us and we're going in pretty confident so we're looking forward to tomorrow night's game here," he said, saluting fellow Heartland Championship campaigners Horowhenua-Kapiti for their tenacity that rattled the Magpies in the previous challenge although the holders came back with a vengeance in the last 10 minutes for an emphatic 50-16 victory.

"They [Magpies] play very well and it's our chance to win it against the big boys so who knows what it'll be at fulltime?"