A Civil Project Solutions Poverty Bay 40 man-squad was named nearly two weeks ago and the players went straight into training in between club obligations.
The Coast named their squad on Sunday.
Head coach Hosea Gear flew into Gisborne from Australia yesterday and headed straight up the Coast.
“The last six months have gone so quickly and a lot has happened,” said Gear, who coached the Coast to Lochore Cup glory in the 2022 Heartland Championship.
“The cyclone changed a lot of lives so that’s something that has had an impact on everyone.”
The Coast coaching staff were yet to trial the squad in set plays, or settle on their starting 15, but powerhouse forward Hone Haerewa is back in the Sky Blue jersey after a season with North Harbour and will captain the team.
Gear had a clear message about what he expected.
“For us, it is about connecting. We haven’t had any training runs. We won’t have a full squad until before the game. A big emphasis will be on where we’ve come over the last two years — knowing and understanding that and what we’ve represented.”
The Bay will be without veteran lock Dan Law (unavailable) which will see hooker Shayde Skudder and first five-eighth Kelvin Smith share the captaincy for this fixture.
Poverty Bay head coach Miah Nikora said it was “a challenge” to prepare for a team they knew little about.
“Over the season, you get the luxury of being able to view teams and work out their strengths and weaknesses and develop your game plan around that,” Nikora said.
“This one is different.”
Nikora said their preparation was more about focusing on themselves and getting new players up to speed with the structures of first-class football.
“Our focus has been around implementing the defence and attack strategies we want to use moving forward but not overloading the boys with too much information in such a short build-up.
“There are 12 guys (in the squad) who are yet to represent Poverty Bay at senior level but quite a few of those young guys have been putting their hands up at club level and at trainings .
“Guys like Khian Westrupp played really well for Ngatapa this year at the Town/Country fixture. He’s one we’re keen to see develop a bit more . . . Genesis Bartlett-Tamatea is another exciting prospect who has been in really good form for his club and impressed during the training as well.”
Team lists for the fixture will be posted on The Gisborne Herald website.
Go to the Poverty Bay RFU Facebook page for livestream link details.
DERBY HISTORY AT OVAL
IT is perhaps fitting the 2023 edition of what was formerly the Queen’s Birthday Weekend derby between Poverty Bay and Ngati Porou East Coast is being played at the Oval tomorrow.
Seventy years ago the teams met at the Oval the very day Elizabeth II was officially crowned the Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms at Westminster Abbey.
It was the second Queen’s Birthday Weekend clash between the sides, as Elizabeth succeeded King George VI after his death in February of 1952.
The Coast won the 1952 clash 9-8 at Tikitiki but a year later the honours went to Poverty Bay 25-9 at the Oval — scoring seven tries to the Coast’s two.
Tomorrow marks the first King’s Birthday Weekend match since 1951.
While it is not certain the last time the teams played the annual clash at the Oval, it was held at Rugby Park for the first time in 1956, resulting in an 8-all draw.
The QBW derby came to an end at an unknown date and was resurrected in 2005, Poverty Bay pipping the Coast 14-13 at Rugby Park. The Bay won 10 straight QBW derby games up to 2016 when the Coast ended the streak 26-8 in Ruatoria.
The Bay regained ascendancy to win in 2017, 2018 and 2019. It was not held in 2020 and the Coast won 28-21 in Ruatoria in 2021.
Poverty Bay triumphed 46-12 in Ruatoria last year to reclaim the PJ Sayers Cup played for between the sides when they meet at an East Coast venue.
The Anaru “Skip” Paenga Memorial Trophy is on the line tomorrow. It is played for when the sides meet in Gisborne.
The last time the Bay played a representative match at the Oval was a Heartland Championship loss to Whanganui in 2011 when Namibia were using Rugby Park as a training venue for the Rugby World Cup.
