Rotoiti and Whakarewarewa women face-off for Trophy

Whakarewarewa player Lilly Florence plays the ball against Rotoiti when the sides met earlier this season. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Expect a passionate and fired up display of women's rugby as Whakarewarewa host Rotoiti in the final of the Trophy division.

This game was moved from tomorrow to this morning to provide a full day of rugby action at Puarenga Park, with this game followed by the premier men's match-up between the same clubs.

This season, after the first round, the women's competition split into two divisions.

The top four are competing for the Cup and play the last week of their round robin tomorrow before moving on to semifinals.

The bottom three are playing for the Trophy and, having completed a round robin, Whakarewarewa and Rotoiti play a straight final today.Whakarewarewa coach Ron James was looking for his team to continue building.

"We will be looking to continue to show improvements and to finish the season off well.

"We have taken some big strides this year for our first year.

"Taking another win will be awesome for us, because if you look at the percentages we have won more than we have lost."

James said it would be "a great club day" which both sides would enjoy.

"It will be a big spectacle on Saturday. It doesn't matter where either club are sitting on the table both teams will step up to the occasion. Come Saturday it will be all on."

Rotoiti coach Victoria Grant said her side would need to deliver a well finished team performance through their running game.

"This weekend we will be looking to deliver some running rugby, we want to put on a good spectacle for our supporters.

"We know Whakarewarewa have a number of strong runners, so we need to back our line speed and ability over the ball to counter this.

"We will be wanting the girls to have a strong mindset and to come out firing," Grant said.

Meanwhile, it is a simple equation for Waikite who travel to Rangataua tomorrowknowing a win will secure a home semifinal.

They come into this game on the back of a 54-25 loss to Rangiuru.

They felt they were on the wrong side of some of the referee's decisions in that game - it started without them when the referee ruled they took too long to come out of the sheds - but coach Shane Wilson said they were putting that behind them.

"The loss was a bit hard to take, they were more worried about the ref than anything, but I've been trying to get them to stop wasting energy on that and concentrate on this week.

"In those situations you have to take the game out of the referee's hands, play positively and don't make mistakes.

"I just want to see a bit of belief from our ladies going into a big game this weekend.

"I want us to get a good game under our belts, play a solid 80 minutes and go into semifinals with a hiss and a roar."

Wilson wanted to see his side return to the "draw and pass" game that had worked well for them in previous weeks.

"We want to attack with a bit of width, move the ball from left to right and stretch their defence.

"We want to put our strong ball-runners into space and run off them to receive the ball."

In previous games against Rangataua the Waikite players had been intimidated by playing against the likes of Black Fern Lesley Ketu, but Wilson wanted his side to embrace the challenge.

"I talk a bit about how everybody gets scared or nervous, you just have to channel it and use it in a positive way - just take the challenge head-on."

Baywide Women:
Saturday
Kickoff: 11am
Trophy Final:
Whakarewarewa v Rotoiti at Puarenga Park

Sunday
Kickoff: 1pm
Cup:
Rangiuru v Waimana at Centennial Park
Rangataua v Waikite at Te Ariki Park