Whaka to take on Whakatane in baywide clash

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Whakatane Marist will face their first true challenge when they entertain Whakarewarewa this tomorrow.

Whakarewarewa, on the other hand, only have one win and a draw from the first five rounds of the competition, coming up against Rotoiti, Te Puna, Te Puke, Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Sports in the first five rounds.

"Fortunately for Whakatane Marist they are in a good place, coming away with a couple of wins," said Whaka's coach Kopae Irihei.

"For us, we would have liked to have more than one win out of (our games against) the five top teams. It would have been nice to pick up a win against the likes of Mount, Tauranga Sports or Te Puke. We came close but we couldn't get across the line. For us that is possibly the most disappointing thing."

While competition points have been hard to come by, Irihei has managed to take other things out of the games.

"We have struggled in the past against these teams, but we have made a lot of inroads, especially with our scrum. In the past we used to get pushed around by these teams, but we seem to be the dominant one in these games, so that is definitely a positive.

"The top five teams are now out of our way, so we just have to knuckle down now and make sure we play like we did against those teams. The games that we should win, we need to play at our upmost best. It doesn't take too much to have a bit of an off day and for them to continue playing at their best and cause an upset. We are certainly looking forward to the second part of this competition now."

Irihei highlighted the improvement of the Whakarewarewa forward pack and the impact on their game.

"In the past couple years, our backs have been the dominant force, we have just worked hard to get our forward pack up to the likes of the top three other teams. In the past our forward pack has let us down and we have relied heavily on our backs to get us through the games. But now that our forwards can match them it is about us pulling together collectively as a team to get some good results. We haven't yet which is possibly the disappointing thing, but hopefully from here on wards we can make some in roads."

Whakatane Marist coach Craig Edwards highlighted the team's approach for this weekend.

"They have a big, strong forward pack. Our key focus will be to try and get front-foot ball. They are a top four team and we have to be on our game and step up again this weekend."

"We will try to work on our forwards this weekend, if we can get front-foot ball for our forwards then our backs can keep doing what they have been doing the last few weeks."
Whakatane also have to address discipline issues.

"Talking to the referees, largely we have received penalties for being offside around the ruck. The boys have been working hard on getting back, to get that extra half a yard to get on side, and back our fitness and defence to do so."

The game is being played at Rugby Park, kick off at 2.45pm.

Draw:
Baywide Premier
Tomorrow: Whakatane Marist v Whakarewarewa at Rugby Park, Paroa v Te Puke Sports at Lawson Park, Opotiki v Greerton Marist at Princess Street Reserve, Tauranga Sports v Rotoiti at Tauranga Domain, Mount Maunganui v Te Puna at Blake Park, Arataki v Rangataua at Arataki Park. All kick off 2.45pm. Development: same draw, kick off 1pm.
Baywide Division 1: Judea v Ruatoki at Maharaia Winiata, Rangiuru v Marist St Michael's at Centennial Park, Te Puke. Katikati v Kahukura at Moore Park, Poroporo v Te Teko at Poroporo Park, Waikite v Ngongotaha at Bellevue Road. All kick off 2.45pm. Papamoa bye