If results go as predicted, St Johns Club Whanganui Colts (blue) will make the final of the Manawatū club competition with victory in their semifinal on Saturday.
If results go as predicted, St Johns Club Whanganui Colts (blue) will make the final of the Manawatū club competition with victory in their semifinal on Saturday.
Brought to you by Wanganui Rugby
St Johns Wanganui Metro Colts just need to keep their feet firmly on the ground, but still moving at pace, and they should book their Manawatū club final berth after this Saturday's semifinal.
Results went as predicted in the final round-robin matches last Saturday,as Metro thumped winless College Old Boys 78-0 at Cooks Gardens, but still had to settle for runnerup on the table by a point, after leaders Feilding Yellows claimed their derby match with Feilding Old Boys 29-3.
Therefore, the Yellows get a chance at payback when they host Dannevirke SC in the 1st vs 4th semifinal, with Dannevirke having upset them 21-19 in the opening round, while Metro will face a Feilding Old Boys team they pumped 61-8 on the same weekend.
However, Metro coach Mark Cosford is expecting a much sterner test in the sudden-death game.
"The next three trainings we've got to keep their feet on the ground, finals are a different kettle of fish," he said on Monday.
In front of a good gathering of Metro stalwarts on Saturday, who were there to watch the double header with the St Johns Wanganui Metro Women also playing Feilding Old Boys-Oroua, the Colts led 40-0 at halftime and kept up the momentum.
Virtually all the points were scored by outside backs, with wingers Joey Devine and Cody Davy both getting hat-tricks.
Centre Matt Murphy got a try and popped over six conversions before handing the kicking duties to Devine, who got three conversions himself for a 21-point haul.
Francisco Field added his sixth try of the campaign, as Cosford is working with a large squad and is able to alternate between two sets of quality outside backs.
"That's what we've been trying to do [is] get it wide, it's too tight around the rucks these days," he said.
"Feilding Old Boys are the same situation – if we get it wide, we're away."
The Wanganui Metro Women completed their campaign with a 44-0 scoreline against them that was respectable, given leaders Feilding Old Boys-Oroua had beaten Kia Toa 41-18 and Kia Toa went on to destroy Metro 91-0 the previous weekend.
Metro will now play some post-season rugby in an effort to get the new team added game time, while there is also the upcoming Wanganui vs Horowhenua Kapiti women's representative match.
• The Metro Colts semifinal with Feilding Old Boys kicks off at Cooks Gardens on Saturday at 1pm.
