Women's Rugby: Top of the table clash

Rangiuru No 8 Christie Yule makes a run against Whakarewarewa earlier this season. Photo / File

Two women's rugby freight trains are set to collide this weekend.

In arguably the most highly anticipated women's rugby fixture of the season, Rangiuru host Rangataua at Centennial Park tomorrow. Both sides have been unstoppable this season and sit together at the top of the table with four wins from four. Rangataua are in first courtesy of an extra bonus point, although the only game in which Rangiuru missed out on a bonus point was their default win over Waikite.

Rangataua have scored 267 points and conceded just 43. Rangiuru's record is even more impressive. Disregarding the default win over Waikite, they have scored 291 points in three games - that is 97 points per game - and conceded zero.

Rangiuru coach Jimi McLean said the focus for his side this week was their mental preparation.

"The key focus area for us this week will be our emotional state and making sure we are up to the task mentally, and emotionally.

"In saying that we want to test Rangataua physically as well so I'll be asking for a big performance from our forwards. If our forwards can get us front football then we will see if we can exploit areas in behind their defensive lines with our kicking game," McLean said.

After the death of "koro" Mark Edmonds last week, McLean said Rangiuru wanted to deliver a comprehensive performance in his honour against Matata. They won 125-0.

"It was an emotional game for us, by and large we achieved that. We acknowledge Matata who fronted up on Sunday and stayed in the game to the end. It was hard to implement structures in this game but our accuracy was good. They tested our scrum, that was definitely a work-on for us leading into Sunday's game."

Rangataua coach Paul Pou said this weekend's game would be the most competitive to date and would test his side's composure and ability to perform under pressure.

"This week is going to be our biggest week of the season. We play the favourites to win the competition this week in Rangiuru. For us, we have implemented a few new things which worked well for us on the weekend.

"Rangiuru bring a different pressure and we will have to adapt to this pressure. This will be a test of our composure, our commitment and our resilience. It should be a great game to witness and be a part of."

Pou said there was always room for improvement but a concentrated effort would be made on pressure, both sustaining and applying it would be a key focus.

"There are always a few things to work on from the game, our focus will be on sustaining their pressure, building our own pressure and working hard for each other on the field. Finally we need to ensure we are executing with purpose."

Meanwhile, Waikite face a tough trip to Waimana, Whakarewarewa host Matata and Rotoiti have the bye.

Baywide Women's Draw
Sunday
Kickoff: 1pm
Rangiuru v Rangataua at Centennial Park
Whakarewarewa v Matata at Puarenga Park
Waimana v Waikite at Waimana Domain
Rotoiti – Bye