Eketahuna need ‘brains in gear’ to win

Eketahuna will have to play smart rugby if they are to upset Northern United in the final of the Wellington premier division women's rugby competition at Porirua this coming Saturday.
Coach Cory Miller accepts Eketahuna will start rank underdogs after having already lost twice to Norths this season - 17-10 and 31-19 - but he is confident that if their "brains are in gear" they are capable of coming up trumps in the one that counts.
"We have to get the mental side of things right, that the big test for us," he said.
"We have to forget about everything that has happened in the past and go out there and play like we have never played before."
Miller puts the challenge confronting Eketahuna in the grand final in perspective when he predicts it will be 10 times bigger than what they faced during their gripping 15-10 semi-final win over Johnsonville at Eketahuna three days ago.
Which is an unnerving prospect when you consider that Johnsonville dominated the forward exchanges to such a degree that Eketahuna had to exist on no more than 30 per cent of possession.
Statistics showed, in fact, that Eketahuna lost 16 of their own throws to lineouts and also conceded three tightheads in the scrums.
Miller agrees the lineouts, in particular, have been a source of worry ever since their main lineout jumper, Koko Namana, was forced into retirement by pending motherhood and he said it would be the subject of careful scrutiny at training sessions this week.
"We simply have to be more competitive there and maybe we'll have to look at mixing things up a bit ," he said.
Miller was surprised by Eketahuna's problems at scrum time against Johnsonville as the platform there had been stable through most of the season, and with the tightheads coming towards the closing stages of a tightly-contested match he thinks nerves could have played their part in those shortcomings.
"Perhaps some of the forwards were thinking more about the score rather than on focusing on what they had to do," he surmised.
The Eketahuna camp is anticipating Norths basing most of their play around a set of forwards which include three or four internationals - New Zealand or Samoan - with the emphasis being on the "pick and go" and rolling maul.
And that means the defence around the fringes of those areas will need to be every bit as tight as it was against Johnsonville, led as it was by the hard-working loose trio of skipper Perri, Tatana, Heather Edwards and Emma Aldworth.
Their tackle count was enormous and, what's more, they were dangerous runners themselves in broken play.
Eketahuna's tactics will contrast dramatically with those of Norths as the emphasis for them will be on utilising the attacking skills of a backline which has no peer in the Wellington competition .
However, coach Miller doesn't want them adopting a "run at all costs" mentality.
And no wonder for in the likes of Rebecca Hull and Jessie Bennett they have players capable of making huge metreage with their punting
"We don't want to run from everywhere, it's all about getting ourselves into positions from where movement of the ball is the best option," Miller said.
The strong following which the Eketahuna has within the Wairarapa-Bush rugby community is evidenced by two busloads of supporters already being booked to travel to Porirua and a third on the planning books.
"The girls talk a lot about performing well for their supporters and that's going to be a huge part of the preparation for this game too," he said.
"Nothing rewards good support like a win, and you couldn't top winning as final, could you?"