Rugby: Magpies hope for biggest crowd of season for final Shield match

The Magpies fans got their team over the line against Manawatū in their previous home game, and the Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union hope they can do it again. Photo / Paul Taylor

The Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union is expecting another big crowd backing the Magpies to defend the Ranfurly Shield against Wellington on Sunday.

Union commercial manager Dan Somerville said ticket sales were going really well with about 6500 sold as of Tuesday morning.

He said that has them well on track for the Magpies' biggest crowd of the season for their biggest game of the campaign.

Not only does Hawke's Bay have the opportunity to secure the Ranfurly Shield until 2021 with a win, but they can also seal at least a top-two seed heading into the Mitre 10 Cup Championship finals.

The Magpies are currently three points behind first-placed Otago, and just one win against Wellington or Taranaki the following week would lock in a home semifinal, with Northland a further eight points back in third.

A loss for Otago in either of their final two fixtures, against Southland and Tasman, could still see Hawke's Bay finish top of the Championship as well.

Somerville said the crowd makes a massive difference for the Magpies players, and they will need that support to get over the line against a Wellington side confident they can take the Ranfurly Shield.

"This year, I don't know what's happened but the crowd at home seems a lot more vocal," he said.

"When the team came off against Manawatū at halftime the other day, they got a standing ovation, and I've never seen that."

Can Hawke's Bay get one more win and keep the Ranfurly Shield for the summer? Photo / Paul Taylor

Somerville said the loud crowd helped Hawke's Bay seal a famous, last-gasp victory over Canterbury in round three as well.

He said there would definitely be a financial benefit to the union if they could host a semifinal and final this year on top of the bumper Shield defence crowds.

"With Covid, we've lost sponsorship, New Zealand Rugby contributions are down, the first game against Counties we couldn't really sell tickets," Somerville said.

"But the most important thing is McLean Park has become a bit of the fortress for the team. Having 10,000 people behind you is amazing for the boys, it really helps."

The Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union has also responded to feedback from the first Ranfurly Shield defence against Northland, which reported that the services weren't running quickly enough by getting in extra caterers, coffee carts and bars to serve the greater number of patrons.

Kickoff against Wellington is at 2.05pm on Sunday.