Rugby
Eketahuna will be rank underdogs when they confront Feilding in a Manawatu women's rugby match tomorrow which will decide the winner of the Prue Christie Cup competition.
That despite the fact the teams go into the fixture with the same record; four wins from as many games.
What makes Feilding such a strong favourite is the composition of their side. They will be spearheaded by at least three members of New Zealand's World-Cup winning sevens squad and could have as many as seven national secondary school representatives as well.
What's more they will be buzzing with confidence after their 55-0 win over another of the "big guns" in the Manawatu competition, Linton Army, last weekend.
"They are a very, very good team and we know we are going to be up against it," Eketahuna Black Fern Rebecca Mahoney said of Feilding.
"They basically tick all the boxes, there's no obvious weaknesses there."
That said, Mahoney isn't about to throw in the towel before a ball is kicked in anger. Not by a long shot.
"All the pressure is on them and that's good for us," she said. "If we can stay in the game early, you never know what might happen. They are used to just blowing teams away and it would be interesting to see how they react if the scores stay close. That's our challenge, we have to be competitive all the way through."
The acid will be on the Eketahuna forwards to show the same commitment they displayed in their team's impressive 29-12 win over Stratford at Eketahuna last Saturday. Time and again they worked through five or six phases before releasing the ball to their backs and their unity was such that short passing rushes and the "pick and go" became their best attacking options.
It is unfortunate for Eketahuna that a knee injury suffered by No8 Emma Aldworth in the Stratford game means she won't play tomorrow.
To say she will be missed is a major understatement, for she is a powerful ball runner who can generally be relied on to make it over the advantage line. Also out through injury is young winger Katrina Terry, scorer of seven tries in a recent club game. She has a broken leg.
The absence of Aldworth means fellow loosie Katie Turnbull will take over the responsibility of main ball carrier in the close-quarter stuff and she showed enough against Stratford to suggest she will do a good job.
Front rowers Kelly Hunt and Christine Wolland are never easy to stop when they work up a full head of steam and neither are middle rowers Andrea Taiaroa and Raylene Reiri and the versatile Jess Bennett.
It wasn't long ago Bennett was one of the most promising first-fives around, now she is showing similar promise as a No6 or No8.
The big news in the Eketahuna backline is that Black Fern Shakira Baker may turn out at centre.
She has played little rugby of late because of health issues but the word is she is keen to play tomorrow, and it's hard to imagine Eketahuna turning her down. A prolific try scorer at all levels of the game, Baker would certainly add oomph to the attacking capabilities of an Eketahuna backline in which halfback Laura Gavin, five-eighths Mahoney and Tatiana Tafatu and fullback Huia Paul are all proven attackers.
Also in Eketahuna's favour is the tactical nous of Gavin and Mahoney, both of whom are adept at the tactical kicking game.
Weekend fixtures
The full draw for Wairarapa-Bush club rugby tomorrow is:
Tui Cup premier division semifinals: Greytown v East Coast, Greytown at 2.30pm (A Payne; G Reisima and D Whitcombe); Eketahuna v Pioneer, Eketahuna at 2.30pm (A Stringer; S Andrew and E Wallace).
Hodder Steffert Plate premier division semifinals: Gladstone v Marist, Gladstone at 1.20pm (S O'Gorman; G Moorcock and L Price); Carterton v Bush Sports, Carterton at 2.30pm (C Jefferies; T Roseingrave and C Roseingrave).
Ryan Cup senior reserve semifinals: Masterton Red Star v Greytown, Colombo Road at 1pm (P Thompson; B Whale and B Stewart); Tuhirangi v Martinborough, Pirinoa at 2.30pm (D Goodin).
President's Cup Plate senior reserves semifinals: East Coast v Gladstone, Whareama at 1pm (V Peterson; M Ford and home team); Eketahuna v Carterton, Eketahuna at 1pm (S Andrew).
Manawatu women Prue Christie Cup final: Eketahuna v Feilding Old Boys, Eketahuna at 1pm (E Wallace; P Baucke and C Henrickson).