Fatialofa wants revenge

A piece of homespun philosophy from King Country coach Peter Fatialofa will have his team well prepared for their third division NPC semifinal against Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin tomorrow.

Former Samoan international and legendary figure Fatialofa is intent on steering his King Country side into the final, but said his team were focusing on nothing else but the game ahead.

A trip to Levin Domain was no big deal, he said.

"It's like when I played at Twickenham in front of 89,000 people. They asked me what I thought about that and I said as long as they only put 15 men on the paddock we'll be all right.

"We respect Horowhenua and we're not taking them lightly, and we're not thinking about the final yet. They beat us in the first round, but looking at the tape it was the one that got away, or the one we gave away.

"It will come down to who wants it the most, and the team that puts up the best performance will win."

When Fatialofa started the season he was unhappy with the fitness and attitude of some players. He then brought in six imported players, and the team took time to be well-received by diehard King Country fans.

"But it's like everything. When you're winning they leave you alone," he said.

An under-strength Horowhenua-Kapiti will throw everything into the start tomorrow.

Coach Peter Kemp said Horowhenua's chances would be best served by taking the game to their more-fancied rivals rather than waiting for the breaks to come.

"It's no use trying to defend.

"We'll be having a crack at them. Obviously we can't sit back and rest on our laurels and we'll have to attack them.

"They're bigger than us, but not unbeatable."

Several times this season Horowhenua-Kapiti have started games strongly and put on what transpired to be a winning break in the first 20 minutes.

Horowhenua-Kapiti will be without six first-choice players because religious beliefs mean they refuse to play on Sundays.

Subsequently, the team were put through a rigorous training run at Otaki on Thursday night.

Kemp said that with new players coming in for this game it was good to give them a hard preparation.

In the other semifinal, North Otago, who won the round robin competition, are strongly favoured to beat South Canterbury, the defending third division champions, in Oamaru tomorrow.

- NZPA