Haig faces insurmountable battle

Milton Haig will coach Georgia in their clash with the All Blacks

Former Wanganui NPC Div 3 champion coach Milton Haig faces a real "David v Goliath" battle when Georgia meets defending titleholders New Zealand in a World Cup match in the Welsh Millennium Stadium on Saturday morning (NZ time).
Globe-trotting Haig, who has been coach of the "Lelos" (Georgians) since 2011, was in charge of Steelform Wanganui in the 28-16 victory over King Country at Te Kuiti in 2003.
He was coach of the Butcher Boys between 2002 and 2007 with his sides runners-up in the first two years of the Pink Batts Heartland Meads Cup championship, losing 16-14 to Wairarapa-Bush at Cooks Gardens in 2006 and 25-8 against North Otago in Oamaru the following season.
Invercargill-born Haig, now 51 years old, was a NZ Under-17 selection halfback in 1980 while at Southland BHS and between 1983 and 1988 played nine times for Southland before moving to the Bay of Plenty, having 52 games for the Steamers between 1989 and 1996.
On overseas visits he played for Johannesburg Pirates, London Scottish and for Orrell and Richmond in England between 1985 and 1988.
Before he retired from playing he played for NZ Marist and for a NZ President's XV, both in 1992. The next year he was player coach for the Preston Lodge club in Edinburgh and returned to coach Mt Maunganui before becoming assistant to Vern Cotter when BOP won the NPC Div 2 title in 2000.
Haig became a NZRU Resource Coach in 2002, the year he was appointed Wanganui coach.
From Wanganui he became head coach of Counties Manukau for three years and also worked with the Chiefs Super squad in 2011.
Between 2003 and 2011 Haig ran training camps for NZ under-17, under-19 and under-20 squads, was NZ under-21 assistant coach in 2006-07 and was assistant coach for the 2008 NZ Maori when they won the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
Then it was appointment as head coach of Georgia in 2011 with the team winning the European Nations Cup championship. The successful campaign to qualify for this year's World Cup started in 2013 when Georgia's wins included 16-15 over Samoa and 19-15 against Canada but there was a 25-23 loss to America. The season ended with Georgia beating Japan 35-24 - the side that provided the sensation of the current World Cup by toppling the Springboks.
Earlier this year Haig coached the Lelos (named after a traditional Georgian ball game) to win a second successive ENC Grand Slam, beating Germany 64-8, Portugal 29-15, Spain 26-13, Russia 33-0, Romania 15-6 and Uruquay 19-10.
Georgia, ranked 16th, made a fine start to the World Cup with a 17-10 win over Tonga (ranked 11th), followed by a 54-9 loss to Argentina (ranked 8th) last weekend and now comes the All Blacks on Saturday morning (8am stat) in Cardiff.
Regardless of the final finishing order of his team, Milton Haig has played a major role in raising the standard of Georgian rugby.
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Poverty Bay, who play Wanganui at Cooks Gardens on Saturday in the seventh and penultimate qualifying round of the 2015 Pink Batts Heartland competition, will be trying for a first ever championship victory in the city.
The Bay, winners of a record four Lochore Cup titles between 2006 and 2011, has never beaten the Butcher Boys in 10 Heartland fixtures - seven at Cooks Gardens and three in Gisborne.
Closest championship games between the two unions were at Gisborne in 2013 when Wanganui won 25-21 (a season when Poverty Bay slipped to its lowest ever Heartland ranking - rock-bottom 12th) and at Cooks Gardens in 2007 when the hosts won 22-20.
After the shocking 2013 placing Poverty Bay soared up to third last winter. The side qualified second behind unbeaten Buller in the Meads Cup and fought back from 3-24 to run eventual champions Mid Canterbury to 29-24 in a semi-final at Gisborne.
It was only the third time that the "Reds" had reached the Meads Cup play-offs. Wanganui ended their hopes with semi-final wins at Cooks Gardens in both 2009 (56-0) and 2010 (31-24).
The two unions also met in an NPC Div 3 semi-final, at Gisborne in 1995 when the home team won 26-19 only to lose to Thames Valley in the final. Wanganui bounced back to win the Div 3 title the following season, beating Marlborough 22-17 in a controversial final in Blenheim when the home side's coach blamed the referee for the defeat. Russell Gedye, Jason Hamlin and Mike Collis scored tries for Wanganui and Guy Lennox kicked a penalty and two conversions
Poverty Bay's Lochore Cup titles were won at home in 2006 (46-34 v King Country), 2007 (38-35 v South Canterbury) and 2008 (26-5 v Horowhenua-Kapiti) and at Timaru in 2011 (49-22 v South Canterbury).
Unfortunately the good 'Bay form of 2014 has not carried over to this year despite a runaway 60-15 opening round win over neighbours East Coast. It has been downhill since then with home losses to Thames Valley 37-43, North Otago 23-30 and Mid Canterbury 38-27 last Saturday and away defeats against Horowhenua-Kapiti 26-54 and Buller 14-36.
The opposition in qualifying this season, however, has been stronger than last year.
Despite winning just one match this season the 'Bay has some lively attacking backs with Waikato loan winger Leigh Bristowe scoring six tries, fellow winger Carl Riini five and fullback Tamati Samuals three.
The 'Bay, despite being second to bottom on the points table, has managed 28 tries with 15 of them coming in the first two fixtures.
In addition to Bristowe other loan players in the squad are Wellington winger Tele'a Afa Fa'atau, Auckland lock Dean Williams, Tasman mid-field back Kerehama Barrett, and Bay of Plenty loose forwards Jake Paringatai (former Northland and Super Rugby player) and Ryan Symes.
Missing this year is former Wanganui and East Coast Meads Cup winning mid-field back Tau Moeke (back with East Coast). The side's other 2014 NZ Heartland rep, fullback Ethine Reeves, was not in the squad earlier this season but has now returned.
The 'Bay is captained again by lock Murray Hewson with the forward pack also including 33-year-old prop Sione Ngatu who has more than 120 caps for the union.
Wanganui scored seven tries but allowed in four in a comfortable 47-27 win over Thames Valley in Paeroa last weekend. It was Wanganui's highest score in 15 visits to the Valley since 1923 - the previous best being 43-0 at the same field in 2008 - and it was the highest score by the Swamp Foxes in Heartland matches against the Butcher Boys..
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If Wanganui beats Poverty Bay on Saturday it will clinch a berth in the Meads Cup semi-finals.
The local team is currently third on the points table with 23pts, behind unbeaten Mid Canterbury (27) and second-placed South Canterbury (25) who are well positioned to host semi-finals.
Mid Canterbury is home to sixth-placd Horowhenua-Kapiti (17 pts) on Saturday and then travel to play fourth-positioned North Otago(18 pts) in the final qualify round while South Canterbury host North Otago this weekend and then fly to Gisborne to play Poverty Bay.
Wanganui's last round opposite is Wairarapa-Bush, currently placed fifth with 17 pts. The game, in Masterton, will also count as a Bruce Steel Memorial Cup challenge for the hosts.
The top points scoring teams at present are South Canterbury 226 pts, Mid Canterbury 213, Wanganui 206, Poverty Bay 187, Horowhenua-Kapiti 185 and Thames Valley 160.
South Canterbury has conceded 122 pts, Wanganui 127, Wairarapa-Bush 130, Buller 139, West Coast 143 and Mid Canterbury 149.
South Canterbury has a plus 104 point differential, Wanganui 79, Mid Canterbury 66 and Wairarapa-Bush 28.
Top try scoring sides are South Canterbury 31, Wanganui 30, Poverty Bay 28, Mid Canterbury 27, Horowhenuia-Kapiti 24 and Thames Valley 23.
Wairarapa-Bush has conceded 14 tries, Wanganui 15, South Canterbury and King Country 17 each, West Coast and Buller 18 each and Mid Canterbury 19.
The leading individual statistics are -
Points scoring - 85 Brandyn Laursen (H-K), 63 Tim Priest (W-B) and Ewan Scott (MC), 54 Nick Cumming (WC), 52 Ben Palmer (NO) and Zayn Tipping (KC), 47 Trinity Spooner-Neera (Wang), 46 Hagen Schulte (Buller), 43 Jared Trevathan (SC) and Jonnie Te Puki (TV).
Goal-kicking - 65 pts Laursen, 63 Priest, 52 Palmer, 48 Scott, 47 Spooner-Neera and Tipping, 43 Trevathan, 41 Schulte, 39 Cumming.
Try scoring - 6 Leigh Bristowe (PB) and Iliesa Tuvayra (KC), 5 Erenimo Tau and Paul Fifita (SC) and Carl Riini (PB), 4 Bryn Hudson, Stephen Perofeta and Samu Kubunavanua (Wang), Kris Palmer (EC), Brandyn Laursen (H-K), Andrew Makalio (WB), Nemani Talemaitoga and Tyrone Keith (TV), Rupeni Cokonasiga (SC), Sala Halaleva (NO) and Ashton Tuck (MC). Fourteen players have scored three tries each.