Rugby: The sky's the limit for Hawke's Bay

Israel Dagg and Zac Guilford and their Hawkes' Bay team mates want to repay their fans with a home semifinal. Photo / Getty Images

The match officials were able to deny Hawke's Bay one competition point against Canterbury but they couldn't take away the Magpies' belief they can still be crowned champions.

And who would bet against Hawke's Bay? The Magpies are New Zealand rugby's greatest success story of the past three years. They joined the big league in 2006 with nothing more than passion and a desire to work hard.

Their first year in the top division was ugly. But then they brought in Peter Russell and Tom Coventry as coaches. Some of their young academy stars emerged, a few old boys kicked into life and some renegades such as Jason Shoemark and Matt Berquist washed up in Napier and the whole thing clicked.

Three years on and the story won't end. A packed McLean Park - itself in the midst of a major renovation ahead of the World Cup - saw a Hawke's Bay side containing 12 Super 14 players rattle and shake an All Black-laden Canterbury.

Had it not been for the New Zealand Rugby Union's penny pinching, the Bay may have drawn on Thursday, with the TV replay showing a legitimate last-minute try had been scored. The officials at the ground had their doubts and so it was that the Magpies ended the game with the hot breath of the chasing pack now being felt on their necks.

That, however, has only galvanized their belief that they can win their next three games and claim their first title.

"You set your goals high," says coach Russell, "and one of the things we decided we needed to achieve was a home semifinal. We need that to repay the support the community has given us.

"We had a game plan that we thought would rattle them [Canterbury] and we did that pretty well. We had them under pressure and we have taken a lot of belief out of that game."

Fate will now play a bigger role in determining Hawke's Bay's future than they can themselves. All they can do is defeat Northland on Friday and hopefully take a bonus point. Where they end up will depend on other results.

What the Magpies have learned this season is that if they travel to Whangarei believing they just have to turn up and the result will take care of itself, then they will be out on their ear. Russell admits the players and coaching staff were all guilty of believing "it would just happen" in the early part of the season.

Results were hard to come by as a consequence of that complacency. Wellington, Southland and Waikato all inflicted defeats in the first six weeks. At that point, it was time to reassess.

"In the past, we have been able to bring all our players together ahead of the campaign during the pre-season. But this year, because so many were involved in Super 14, we had some players come back late and they didn't even know some of the other players in the squad.

"Everyone was hyped when they got back, which is why we were able to play so well against Auckland but then we thought it was going to come easy.

"We have had to roll our sleeves up and gel; get to know each other again and rebuild that culture that we had."

It didn't help either that a number of players were having to make critical decisions in the early season about where to play next year. Zac Guildford and Israel Dagg were both courted by the Crusaders.

With their futures now settled - Guildford with the Crusaders and Dagg with the Highlanders - the Bay were able to find their form again and they are coming into the business end with confidence and momentum. They have crushed North Harbour, Bay Of Plenty, Manawatu, Otago and Counties Manukau in recent weeks and, while they lost 27-20 to Canterbury, everyone knows the red and blacks will be a different side when they can't call upon the likes of Wyatt Crockett, Brad Thorn, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter.

Hawke's Bay will not be dramatically affected by the make-up of the All Black touring party. Guildford and Dagg are contenders, as is Hika Elliot, but they should be able to retain their shape and form.

Of bigger concern to Russell is the workload he has asked his tight five to pick up. The Magpies don't have the depth in their front five to rotate, so Arizona Taumalolo, Elliot, Clint Newland, Michael Johnson and Ross Kennedy have clocked a lot of game time.

No one can be sure how much more they have in their legs. They could run out of steam in these closing stages but no one should bet on that.

Hawke's Bay look ready to go one stage further in 2009 than they did in 2007 and 2008 and make the final - even if they have to play away from home in the semifinals.

If they do, the big units in the tight five will squeeze out the last drops.