Therefore, Border will get their second shield challenge in three weeks as Kaierau just held onto it in the season-opener, while the winner on Saturday will take a big step towards claiming the Paul Mitchell Cup, awarded to the points table leader at the end of the first round of games.
Having had a narrow loss to Kaierau and then a physical away win over Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist last weekend, Border coach Todd Cowan, who is being assisted this season by retired Steelform Whanganui coach Jason Caskey, has had a bit to think about at training this week.
“Probably getting a little bit more consistency and a few things around executing - just finishing things off,” Cowan said.
The backline is beginning to look sorted as Border has shown faith in first five Tyrone Albert by moving the returning Craig Clare to second five. Clare and halfback Lindsay Horrocks’ kicking tactics proved vital in the Marist win.
However, Cowan is dealing with a growing injury toll in the pack, as promising lock Ngapuke Patea hurt his collarbone last weekend, joining No 8 Bryn Hudson on the sideline.
Cowan said Patea was due for a check-up this week.
“We’ll just cross that bridge when we come to it, find out what the specialist says.”
There are likely to be a couple of other players doubtful with injuries on Saturday.
“It’s probably a reflection of not getting a huge amount of opportunities for pre-season games - we’ll have to manage it the next couple of weeks.”
Therefore, it’s squad management that is foremost on Cowan’s mind, rather than putting any added emphasis on facing their old rivals, while still respecting Taihape’s abilities.
“They’re the form team of the competition at the moment, two from two,” Cowan said.
“We look forward to the challenge, [we] know they’ll bring a strong team over.
“Try and develop our play and get our things working right. I’m more worried about our systems than our opposition at the moment.”
New Taihape coach Sefo Bourke has a similar mindset.
As a player, Bourke got an up-close-and-personal view of the Taihape-Border rivalry during its peak, which was at least in part elevated by the enmity between the two coaches, his predecessor Tom Wells and Border’s Cole Baldwin.
“There’s not bad blood, Todd’s a new coach, so am I and BJ,” Bourke said.
“Rivalries are fun, we really see them as a bit of a rival because we’ve played them in those finals.
“They’ve still been the standard of the competition for a while now.
“We’re more focused on keeping momentum for our season and getting wins - especially as we haven’t had a lot of success there.”
Still, Bourke acknowledges there’s still a little bit of feeling for the bulk of the squad who lost last year’s final 16-15 in an upset to Border.
“They’ve got that in the back of their minds coming into this game.”
Taihape will have to go without their perpetual-motion fullback Tyler Rogers-Holden this weekend, while former outside back-turned-hooker Jaye Flaws is also away, meaning the visitors will experiment again with veteran Luke Whale moving from the backs to the rake position.
However, local product Aaron Chapman coming back will help cover the gap at fullback, with Bourke aware that while Border have the championship pedigree, the abilities of a new-look Kaierau and the emerging Marist means every match will be a challenge.
“We had our debrief on Monday, and we said, ‘every game this year is going to be like that’, so just prepare as best we can,” Bourke said.
“[Kaierau] was obviously a game of two halves for both of us.
“I think we didn’t realise it, the boys were quite gassed at halftime, and Kaierau brought on some fresh legs.
“They started running us wide, in the wider channels.
“That just goes down to guys in different positions.”
Taihape still have a good bench themselves, as evidenced by pulling the Kaierau match out, with Bourke delighted that Dane Whale was able to step forward and quickly slot the pressure penalty - as no one needs reminding that goal-kicking in the finals against Border was an issue.
“I think he wanted to treat it just like another kick - it was awesome for him with his confidence.”
The other game will see Rochfort Park host its first Premier game in over a season, as McCarthy’s Transport Ruapehu come off the bye to face Marist, with both sides hunting for their first win this campaign.
The Premier draw (2.35pm kickoffs):
Waverley Harvesting Border v Byford’s Readimix Taihape
McCarthy’s Transport Ruapehu v Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist
Bye: Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau
