Samu Kubunavanua will hope his Ngamatapouri team has enough numbers to be competitive with hosts Border for the full match under lights tomorrow night in Waverley.
Samu Kubunavanua will hope his Ngamatapouri team has enough numbers to be competitive with hosts Border for the full match under lights tomorrow night in Waverley.
It is one of the most anticipated evenings of the year in South Taranaki rugby, as Waverley Harvesting Border again hosts Settler's Honey Ngamatapouri for the annual duck shooting night game at Dallison Park tomorrow night.
Held to allow the country boys to get into their maimais early Saturday morning,the game under lights also doubles as a big money-spinner for the host club, thanks to a solid crowd, who have watched their team go undefeated in the fixture for five seasons.
Border have beaten Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau (twice), Speirs Food Marton when they were still in Tasman Tanning Premier, and in the past two years Ngamatapouri – by comfortable 35-13 and 47-10 scorelines.
However, both those matches followed the same script – neighbours Ngamatapouri being competitive for three quarters of the derby, but then paying the price for a lack of depth on the bench as they ran out of gas and the floodgates opened.
Playing in the dark is a physically and mentally draining affair – the added dew on the ball requiring more security and the lowered depth perception making attacking kicks all the more potent.
Border are experts under lights at doing the basics well to keep the pressure on, and then immediately pouncing when their opposition make a mistake.
"We've got to do the little things right," said coach Ross Williams.
Ironically, even as a two-team club, it is Border who have been struggling somewhat for numbers in their first three games this year, holding a 2-1 record and all of them being tight affairs, decided in the dying moments, against Byford's Readimix Taihape, Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist, and Kaierau respectively.
Just when Williams is welcoming back halfback Lindsay Horrocks (head knock) and lock Jon Smyth (suspension), he has lost fellow Steelform Wanganui representative players Angus Middleton (injury), Nick Harding (hamstring), Kamipeli Latu (away) and Craig Clare (away).
Without reliable goalkickers Harding and Clare, the extra points will be provided by Jack Lupton – a Premier regular a couple of seasons ago but more recently playing in the Senior ranks.
"It's a bit of a revolving door," said Williams.
"We've got a squad, I've got a lot of faith in the boys that are there.
"I'm comfortable [with results]. We've got a lot of work to do and we're far from where we know we can play.
"But in the process of going through these issues, we're developing our depth.
"You don't win a championship in May, and you don't talk about a championship in May.
"But I do want my guys motivated [because] it's an important night for our club and our community.
"They're a danger team [Ngamatapouri]. They're the team that can score off 20 per cent possession."
For the first time, Ngamatapouri will bring more than a little optimism for putting in an 80-minute effort, as manager Gerald Pearce was fairly confident they should have a full squad of 22 tonight.
The South Taranaki beekeepers had a bare XV at Spriggens Park last Saturday in their Grand Hotel Challenge Shield challenge to Marist, who only led 18-15 before Ngamatapouri ran out of puff in the 35-15 loss.
"We had a few away last week as one of them [Swade Wallace] had a kickboxing match up in Hamilton, and another had to go back to Fiji, and he's back now," said Pearce.
"We're putting big Jim in the reserves."
Coming back from a broken hand, Wanganui and Horowhenua-Kapiti representative Jim Seruwalu will likely have the same wrapping as he did in the 2017 Meads Cup semifinal.
The team is reinforced by having Sloan Wallace back in the front row, while Samu Kubunavanua will again have to play at flanker.
Pearce said they will have to see tomorrow whether utility man Josaia Dawai completes the loose forward trio with Kubunavanua and Bryn Hudson, or if he plays in the outside backs – neither of which is even his specialty spot of first-five.
"He's whatever you need him to be, he's incredible."
Given it will be their third year straight playing under lights, while several of their franchise players have also played evening games at higher levels, Pearce said they should now be able to handle the unique conditions.
"I think it's the same for everyone, really.
"I'd just hope that they don't do what they did last year with the cars on high beams, at the far end of the ground.
"They don't even need more lights on it. It certainly didn't help the field."
After the curtain raiser Senior game of Border vs Counties at 6pm, the main game kicks off at 7.30pm.
Kaierau's Ethan Robinson was outstanding the last time his team defeated Taihape - way back in the 2017 Premier Consolation final.
Back in the regular Saturday 2.30pm timeslot, it will be an important match for Kaierau and Taihape at the Country Club, in the battle of third vs fifth.
Both are coming off narrow defeats last weekend to Border and McCarthy's Transport Ruapehu respectively, with Kaierau looking to improve their record of only two wins in the last 11 meetings between the sides.
Buoyed by their first victory over Black Bull Liquor Pirates since 2014 in their return home game to the Pa, Harvey Round Motors Ratana will now host Marist for the Challenge Shield.
And while it is the rematch of the 2018 grand final, it is a vastly different Pirates team that will take on the undefeated Ruapehu at Spriggens Park.
The Premier final is already seeming like a long time ago for the new-look Pirates team, who will rematch with an undefeated Ruapehu on Saturday.
