Rugby: Whaka fired up for Mount

Mount Maunganui's coach Rodney Voullaire has picked out Whakarewarewa's Doug Edwards to have an influence on the game between the two sides tomorrow. Photo / Ben Fraser

Whakarewarewa will travel to the Mount tomorrow for what will be another challenging match for both teams.

It will test Whakarewarewa's ability to take on learnings from previous performances as well as Mount Maunganui's prominence in this year's competition.

"We can always take the positives out of a game, we are under no illusion that the likes of the three Tauranga Clubs especially the Mount, Tauranga and Te Puke, have always set the benchmark for Bay of Plenty rugby over the past couple of years and we are trying to close the gap, not just for Whaka but for Rotorua rugby as well," said Whakarewarewa coach Kopae Irihei.

"Like always, a hard physical forward battle is expected. We just hope we have a little bit of edge in our backs. This year in general we have been working hard on trying to get our forward pack to match the likes of the Mount's, Tauranga's and Te Puke's.

"I think we have made some headway in that area. For us we are just looking forward to this battle early on and looking forward to challenge early on."

Mount Maunganui's coach Rodney Voullaire said Whakarewarewa would be looking to counter the emotion of Chris Elvin's 200th game for the Mount.

"But at the end of the day, we are concentrating on ourselves. We are only four weeks in and we have still a lot to improve on from the past three weeks, it's week by week for us.

"They have some good leadership through Dougie (Edwards) around the centre. With the new rules coming into play there is a lot of pressure on the refs to call the right shot.

"There is a lot of pressure at the moment to win these close games, but I think the boys can do this. Obviously we have lost Isaac Te Aute to New Zealand Sevens, which is awesome for him but, obviously we have a big spot to fill there, with Mason Walker. It will be good to have our boys back that were away with the Tens last weekend as well."

The game is being played at Blake Park, kick off 2.45pm.

Rotoiti are also on the road and will take on Te Puke Sports.

Tomorrow's draw:

Baywide Premier (2.45pm): Te Puke Sports v Rotoiti at Murray Salt Stadium, Mt Maunganui v Whakarewarewa at Blake Park, Tauranga Sports v Greerton Marist at Tauranga Domain, Opotiki v Arataki at Princess St Reserve, Paroa v Te Puna at Lawson Park, Whakatane Marist v Rangataua at Rugby Park.

Development (1pm): Te Puke Sports v Rotoiti at Murray Salt Stadium, Mt Maunganui v Whakarewarewa at Blake Park, Tauranga Sports v Greerton Marist at Tauranga Domain, Opotiki v Arataki at Princess St Reserve, Paroa v Te Puna at Lawson Park, Whakatane Marist v Rangataua at Rugby Park.

Baywide Division 1 (2.45pm): Papamoa v Te Teko at Gordon Spratt, Ngongotaha v Marist St Michael's at Ngongotaha, Poroporo v Ruatoki at Poroporo Park, Rangiuru v Kahukura at Rangiuru, Katikati v Judea at Moore Park, Waikite bye.