Rugby: Feisty Magpies may yet grab glittering prize

Hawkes Bay will be hoping for a better result against Canterbury tonight. Photo / Getty Images

The romantics could yet have the ideal national championship final when the last two teams are found tomorrow night.

Hawkes Bay to beat Canterbury in Christchurch tonight; Southland to topple Wellington in the capital tomorrow. Too much to expect? Maybe, but it could happen. The odds makers would beg to differ.

Canterbury and Wellington have both won the last five contests against their respective opponents, but that was then. This is different.

Hawkes Bay gave the defending champions some serious cheek when armed with their All Blacks in Napier a couple of weeks ago. Had prop Sona Taumalolo's last-moment try been allowed, as it should, it could have finished 27-all.

Instead, Hawkes Bay had to wait until Waikato's challenge died out against Auckland in Hamilton last weekend before knowing they had made the last four for the third straight year.

As for Southland, they have to get their feet planted on terra firma again after the tumultuous, joyous events of the past week, after winning the Ranfurly Shield in Christchurch, taking the shield home for the first time in half a century.

The last time they played in Wellington, on September 24, they were beaten 32-13 and while that sounds a reasonable clumping, Southland felt somewhat aggrieved.

Seven of Wellington's points came from an awful refereeing decision to award a try to Fa'atonu Fili, but that can happen with no third official in the Air New Zealand Cup. Indeed, there have been several regrettable decisions by officials which should lead to that idea being shelved for next year.

"It's very exciting for us to get another chance at Wellington because we think there's some unfinished business there," Southland co-coach David Henderson said.

"We thought we played quite a bit of rugby. We won the territory and possession and we didn't come away with the result. It's a matter of seeing if we can go up there and do it this time."

Southland have brought in Hua Tamariki at No 8 for the injured David Hall, but otherwise remain intact from the shield win.

Wellington have captain and prop Jacob Ellison at lock again, covering a serious loss of genuine middle men to injury, but have two first five-eighths on the bench, Piri Weepu starting in the No 10 shirt.

As for Hawkes Bay, they have Andrew Horrell back at second five-eighth and apart from the loss of All Black wing Zac Guildford, have their best XV running out in Christchurch tonight.

There is a rich vein of confidence among the Magpies that it is their destiny this year, having been beaten at the semifinal stage in each of the last two years.

The days of them being regarded as upstarts capable of catching more highly-regarded opponents on the hop are gone.

"I suppose over the last couple of years we've gained a lot of respect around the country for what we're doing and I think the players here realise we can no longer just be called a team on the rise," coach Peter Russell said. "I think teams don't underestimate us any more. They all make sure they have their game at the top of their level when they play us."

Their game is well rounded, with a vibrancy about the pack, plenty of attacking verve among the backs and a fine goalkicker in Matt Berquist. He tops the charts with 156 points, and a success rate of 84 per cent.

You might wonder what rugby Isaac Ross has been watching this season. The Canterbury lock reckoned that Hawkes Bay would be dour, leaving Canterbury to make the running.

"The last time we played them, they never really played. All they did was put the bomb up and attack our breakdown, so we've done a lot of work in terms of nullifying that," Ross said.

Flanker Michael Paterson said Canterbury would certainly use the shield defeat as a motivational aid tonight.

"Losing last week, hopefully [it] is a good wakeup call and we can put a performance out on the track that we can be proud of," he said.

Having no All Blacks won't help, and they have lost lock James Broadhurst to a shoulder injury. But Canterbury, and the Crusaders for that matter, have a long history of winning games when the odds were against them, of digging deep to get across the line.

Hawkes Bay would be wise to ignore the absence of the big names tonight.