First five Lincoln McClutchie will make his sixth start of the season for the Magpies in place of Caleb Makene. Photo / Paul Taylor
First five Lincoln McClutchie will make his sixth start of the season for the Magpies in place of Caleb Makene. Photo / Paul Taylor
A straight swap at first five is the only change to the Hawke's Bay Magpies' starting lineup for their Mitre 10 Cup Championship final against Northland on Friday.
Lincoln McClutchie will wear the number 10 jersey that has belonged to Caleb Makene over the last four matches, after an exceptional 50 minutes off the bench against Taranaki last week.
Makene is fit enough to make the bench, after leaving the field with a cut lip that needed stitching 30 minutes into the 59-23 win.
"Just to allow him to heal, we've taken him out of contact in training," Magpies head coach Mark Ozich said.
Magpies head coach Mark Ozich has made minimal changes to his lineup for the Mitre 10 Cup final. Photo / Getty
Openside flanker Brendon O'Connor is the main absentee through lingering symptoms from a head injury suffered against Wellington, however Solomone Funaki has been tremendous in his stead in the last two matches.
Solomone Funaki, left, in prayer with Hawke's Bay teammates Folau Fakatava and Neria Fomai after last week's semifinal win. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hurricanes midfielder Danny Toala is left out for the third week in a row with in-form Samoan international pair Neria Fomai and Stacey Ili preferred in the centres and Ollie Sapsford covering them from the bench.
Hawke's Bay are heavy favourites for the match, with the TAB putting the odds of a Magpies' win at $1.12 to Northland's $5.70 on Wednesday.
Ozich said despite starting as favourites, no one was getting ahead of themselves, especially since the players who were on board last year when the Magpies finished Championship runners-up to Bay of Plenty know what it is like to make a final, then lose.
"The guys have driven those standards this week themselves," he said.
"We've gotta earn the right to use the ball, we've gotta play for 80 minutes."
Ozich said no matter what happens, they know it will be a physical encounter:
"We'll have to meet that and absorb that and then get into our game."
The coach was very impressed by Northland last week in their upset 32-19 semifinal win over Otago in Dunedin.
"I thought their contact work around the breakdown, the collisions and at scrumtime, they put a lot of pressure on Otago," Ozich said.
Hawke's Bay are seeking their third Mitre 10 Cup Championship title in a decade on Friday night, having won the trophy in its inaugural season in 2011 and then again in 2015.
The Magpies were also champions of the North Island Second Division in 1979, and won the national Second Division Title in 1988, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005 under previous formats of the National Provincial Championship.
Hawke's Bay Magpies squad to play Northland at 7.05pm on Friday night:
