Eketahuna might be the defending champions in the Wellington premier division women's competition but they will start as underdogs when they confront Norths at Eketahuna tomorrow.
Norths go into the game with two commanding wins behind them while Eketahuna have been battling the effects of a limited preparation, a narrow loss against Wainuiomata followed by an improved winning effort over Stokes Valley.
Whether the level of improvement between those matches was enough to harbour hopes of success for Eketahuna over a Norths team with proven combinations and higher fitness levels is debatable.
They will have to combat the physicality of the Norths forwards who use the rolling maul for their attacks. In fact, it will be a surprise if Norths don't revolve most of their play around their forwards as they only know too well what can happen when an Eketahuna backline containing an abundance of attacking talent is given the opportunity to stretch their legs.
For Eketahuna the tactical approach will be rather different. Their forwards will be keen to spend little time in the set pieces, allowing the likes of Raylene Reiri, Andrea Taiaroa and Perri Williams to make an impact in broken play.
