Whanganui club rugby: Border v Kaierau rematch kicks off Tasman Tanning Premier season

Border won the Whanganui Rugby Premier title again in 2024.

Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby

Shall we just call it the 101st minute when the Tasman Tanning Premier competition gets under way at Waverley’s Dallison Park on Saturday with the rematch of last season’s grand final?

Continuing their record-shattering run of five straight Premier Rosebowl trophy wins, home side Border will be most interested to see if last season’s runners-up Kaierau remain on pace to challenge their dominance after coming so close at Cooks Gardens in July.

Border scored off the final play of extra time and then added the conversion for a memorable 36-34 triumph.

Both Border, under co-coaches Todd Cowan and Cole Baldwin, along with Kaierau, under Danny Tamehana, are expected to field familiar line-ups, plus or minus a handful of players.

Steelform Whanganui representative star Alekesio Vakarorogo will be a linchpin in the midfield, following on from receiving the national prize of the Ian Kirkpatrick Medal as the best player in the 2024 Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship.

Fellow grand final hero Tyrone Albert had a Premier-MVP-award-winning season, sharing the honours with Marist’s Alesana Tofa.

For Kaierau, the side under returning skipper Doug Horrocks with talented players like Raymond Salu, Ethan Robinson and Peceli Malanicagi are desperate for their club’s first title since 2005.

Yet Border will be well aware of the other threat to their record title run across to the east of the catchment in the form of Taihape, the only team to defeat them last year – twice.

Holders of the Whanganui Rugby Challenge Shield, Taihape will make their first defence of the season when they travel to Spriggens Park to face Marist.

Guided once again by the estimable Sefo Bourke and assistant Tremaine Gilbert, Taihape are likely to have a very steady line-up built around veterans, including the permanent return home of former Whanganui captain Dane Whale after his sojourn with Marton last year.

Taihape will want to avoid the horror run of injuries they experienced in 2024, which had a big bearing on their semifinal defeat to Kaierau.

Marist, under sophomore-season coach Steelie Koro, would love a big performance straight out of the gate for Old Timers Day at Spriggens, especially after missing out on last year’s semifinals at the last gasp.

Additions from the talented O’Leary family could prove useful – specifically former Collegiate and representative Under-18s captain Shaun, who in 2021 became the only Whanganui skipper to lift the Trustbank Central Shield as Hurricanes U18 champions.

Focusing solely on being Premier-only clubs this season, Marton and 2024 semifinalists Rātana meet in the Rangitīkei derby match at Marton Park, the clubs having split their fixtures in their return to the top grade last year.

April 12, 2.35pm kickoffs

Marton v Rātana, Marton Park; Border v Kaierau, Dallison Park; Marist v Taihape, Spriggens Park (Challenge Shield).