Rugby: Rotorua Boys' High School face do-or-die clash with New Plymouth

DETERMINED: Rotorua Boys' High School halfback Jayden Sergeant looks to slip out of a tackle against Tauranga Boys' College earlier this month. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

Defence will be the focus for the Rotorua Boys' High School first XV when they play New Plymouth Boys' High School away.

The winner of tomorrow's game will go on to play the winner of Hamilton Boys' High School versus Waverley College for the right to represent the Chiefs region at the National First XV Championships.

For the loser, it's season over.

Rotorua have shown great potency in attack this season, on the back of stellar performances from backs such as Hayze Perham and Selestino Ravutaumada who have scored tries for fun. However, they have leaked more points than they would like.

They appeared to have gone some way towards rectifying that in a 27-7 win over Tauranga Boys' College a fortnight ago, to claim the Baywide title, and coach Ruki Tipuna was eager for further improvement against New Plymouth.

Having had a fortnight since the Tauranga game to work on deficiencies, when asked what they had worked on Tipuna simply said: "defence".

"It's the one-on-one stuff and mental toughness. It's got nothing to do with technique or shape or pattern, it's just about wanting to make tackles now.

"We trained well... you can't take too much out of training though. We've got something in place that we think will work well, but we won't know until we get out there and do it," Tipuna said.

It's too nice a day to workout indoors! Our First XV taking advantage of the good weather.

Posted by Rotorua Boys' High School on Tuesday, 22 August 2017

He said New Plymouth were a "tough, solid team with a decent set-piece".

"They've got a few smart backs and we don't know what's happening with that field - if it's going to be a bog or if the sun's dried it out. That's something we'll find out when we get there, hopefully it's dry and hard."

These sides met in the final round of the Super 8 competition, in a game that was a good representation of the way Rotorua have played this season.

They were at their attacking best and poured 50 points on New Plymouth, but also conceded 29. It is the type of performance they won't get away with against the top sides.

"It was a good track initially and we moved the ball well, our defence still wasn't where we would like it to be. That's still too many points to leak.

"Plugging up those holes, that's what we're after. The big thing is making sure we stay switched on defence.

"It was much improved against Tauranga, but the discipline fell away a bit. When we pass and catch well, we attack well, but we know that already. We can score points, we just have to stop other teams scoring," Tipuna said.