RUGBY - `We're still in the race' - David Holwell

"The best part is that we are ot just playing for pride this weekend, we are playing for the play-offs". - David Holwell
Trust a scheming first five-eighths, one with more rugby tactics stored in his analytical noggin than must be healthy, to notice.
But when David Holwell says it is so, then it must be.
So when Holwell says the Northland rugby team is still in the race for an unexpected appearance in the Air NZ Cup play-offs, it is best we all start listening.
Especially rugby scribes who spout off with definitive statements using phrases like "no-show", "out of contention" and "will not be part of the play-off season this year".
Turns out the Northland rugby team is very much still in the mix for a play-off spot this season, and a win in their last pool game against Waikato in Hamilton this weekend will seal the deal.
That is nothing new for a slightly bemused Holwell. But it is something worth correcting on the sheets of this particular fish and chips wrapping.
"It's an outside chance, but it is a chance, and a chance is a chance," Holwell said.
"Our game will be interesting being on Saturday and seeing the two games on Friday night so we will know what we have to do," he said.
"If Southland can beat North Harbour that would put Harbour out of the race, and if Tasman can beat Otago we would need just one point to sneak in. Basically there's two points and four teams having a crack. If those two teams win (Nth Harbour and Otago) then we would have to win too."
"It is pretty simple really."
The fact is, though, that Northland's most significant challenge this weekend is still to try to win in Hamilton no matter what else happens, a feat they have not managed in nearly 20 years.
The last time the Northland rugby team won at Rugby Park was way back in 1986, and even it was by one point and against a Waikato side that had just been demoted from the first division. But Holwell reckons the way his team have been performing they are well in with a shot, as they have been in every game they have played this year.
It helps that Waikato have hardly made their defence of the Air NZ Cup this year all that convincing.
"We have missed a lot of opportunities this season. We could have pretty much been home and hosed but we are not.
"The positive, though, is that we have not lost any game by more than eight points this season, and the best part is that we are not just playing for pride this weekend, we are playing for the play-offs," Holwell said.
With a shortened six-day turn-around between last week's victory over Counties and Saturday's clash in Hamilton, preparations have been low key.
Coach Mark Anscombe said the main aim had been to try to alleviate several minor injuries.
"We were not going to get any better or any worse by doing anything more in training this week. What we had to be aware of is getting our team to the start line intact, ready to take on a strong Waikato team," Anscombe said.
There was only one serious hit out instead of the usual two on Monday.
Yesterday was a rest day, and today the team only trained once before a five-hour bus trip to Hamilton. Tomorrow has a light captain's run pencilled in.