Taranaki banking on home advantage

1.00pm

The clash between Taranaki and Waikato on Saturday is effectively an NPC division one quarterfinal.

And Taranaki are hoping home advantage will work in their favour at Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth.

They led the first five weeks of the competition with an unbeaten record until suffering two heavy away losses to Auckland and Wellington and have yet to lose at home this year.

They have also beaten Waikato in three of their last four encounters -- the exception being Waikato's 48-19 victory in New Plymouth two years ago, which was their first win there since 1996.

Last year Taranaki lost seven matches straight, but not before winning the first two, including a four-tries-to-one upset of Waikato at Waikato Stadium in the season opener.

"Obviously we enjoy playing Waikato. They are a lot like us -- usually with good solid forwards and with a liking for giving it a crack," skipper Paul Tito said.

And then there is the Ryan Wheeler Memorial Trophy that has been at stake every time the two teams have clashed since 2000 in memory of the athletic loose forward who played for both provinces before taking his own life while living in Sydney.

Despite Gordon Slater and Brendan Haami being the only Taranaki players remaining in the current squad who played alongside Wheeler, Tito said the trophy and the player always loomed very large in their pre-match motivation.

The Hurricanes lock has a close affinity with a number of Waikato players, having made his Super 12 debut with the Chiefs in 1999.

"The Waikato team are a great bunch of guys ... but first I'm just looking forward to a huge battle with a bloody good Waikato side."

Tito said it was sad his old locking partner and Waikato representative Keith Robinson was sidelined for the season by injury. "But I'm also glad he's not playing because he's an awesome player."

He was disappointed another close mate in the Waikato team, Mark Ranby, was also out of action.

But this has been Taranaki's season and after bouncing with a 31-14 win on home soil over Otago last weekend they are sitting in second equal spot on the table.

"We didn't play well for a couple of weeks there and got a bit of a kicking from two teams that were absolutely on fire in those particular games."

Tito said Taranaki's astute player recruitment in the off-season had given them an exciting attacking backline to complement the ever-solid pack.

- NZPA

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