Rugby: Ratana all set to crack top four

Action from last year's Taihape vs Ratana clash in Taihape, a 22-all draw. This time, Ratana will be bringing the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield with them. Photo/File

It is amazing how a fortnight can change perceptions.

Following their dismal 2013 season with an eighth-placed showing, few would have expected the quiet activities happening inside the Ratana Pa, with players new and returning filling out the ranks, to be a catalyst for a 180-degree turnaround of Harvey Round Ratana's fortunes.

But after their jaw-dropping 10-3 upset at Rochfort Park to lift the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield from McCarthy's Ruapehu on the second Tasman Tanning Premier weekend, through to retaining the shield in a 15-10 arm-wrestle over Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist last week, Ratana are poised to enter the top four if they can get by another contender in Taihape tomorrow.

Now coming across as an oracle after he predicted Ratana could return to semifinal contention this season, new coach Johno Kaa said it had just been the basics that had lifted the team especially on defence and in discipline.

"It's been a revelation with the turnaround from last year," he said. "The confidence is there, however, we've left those games behind we're moving on."

A year ago in the face of a Marist comeback in the dying minutes at the Pa, Ratana's tempers got the better of them, but last weekend there were only two momentary lapses which let in tries.

Ratana haven't been scoring much, but their opposition have been getting even less.

"Our defence has been cranking. The communication between the players has been really good," said Kaa.

Players such as inspirational captain Vaan Rahina up front and tough defenders Caleb Maraku and Vance Pereka in the backline have led the charge, with Rahina also laying down the law that discipline is key.

"We're learning to control it. That's going to be the biggest catalyst for us losing," said Kaa. "We've got the physicality as a unit, as a squad.

"Vaan's basically said to them that he's sick of guys talking to the ref he's the captain and he'll do the talking, so they can shut up."

Taihape represent a stern test of this new mantra and will be eager to claim the shield. After a bye, the Kerry Whale-coached team rebounded from a tight 24-18 loss to Integrity Motors Pirates to run in nine tries in a 51-36 win over Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau on March 29.

"They may not be the biggest [but] they're pretty physical up front and they've got some young backs," said Kaa.

For Ruapehu, tomorrow's clash with Waverley Harvesting Border is the first real challenge since that defeat in Ohakune, last weekend's 80-0 mauling of Utiku Old Boys not withstanding.

Coach Chris Winter said there were no excuses for the shield slipping away, Ratana just played that well: "We were missing a few and they're coming back in the next few weeks. We're trying to blend young players into our old guys."

Winter's remembers last year's match in Waverley was unquestionably Ruapehu's most physical challenge in their unbeaten season as ferocious Border tackling saw three players hobble off with injury before the visitors recovered in the second stanza pull away with a 25-22 win.

With key squad members still to return, inspirational captain Peter Rowe will take on so much responsibility in the loose-forward department, but will find a stern challenge in Taranaki's Kieran Hussey and possibly the returning Ray Stark.

Having had his first game last week and showing it, Border fullback Fraser Middleton will be eager for a strong match to put himself back in the selectors' plans for the Steelform Wanganui squad in August.

In the other games, cross-town neighbours Kaierau and Marist will meet in a local derby at the Country Club, while Marton host the wounded Utiku Old Boys.