Tasman loosie and former Lindisfarne College student Hugh Renton is home for Saturday's semifinal clash with the Magpies. Photo / Supplied
Tasman loosie and former Lindisfarne College student Hugh Renton is home for Saturday's semifinal clash with the Magpies. Photo / Supplied
Hugh Renton and the Tasman Mako come to McLean Park as two-time defending NPC Premiership champions but he says the Magpies are definitely favourites for Saturday afternoon's semifinal.
"We're totally underdogs. Hawke's Bay have had a very impressive campaign thus far," said the Hastings born and raised loose forward.
Rentonand Tasman are stoked to get a second crack at the Magpies in Napier, albeit without the Ranfurly Shield on the line, after they were beaten 34-22 by a rampant Hawke's Bay last month.
The 25-year-old said his team have a few things they can fix from that performance, but there hasn't been any specific focus to their preparations this week.
"It's just like every game really, if we're able to have each individual nail their roles, have that joint collective focus throughout our game plan ... trying to do that as best we can," Renton said.
Losing by just 12 points somewhat disguised how well Hawke's Bay beat the Mako last time, scoring five tries to one for the visitors.
Number eight Shannon Frizell, who has since joined the All Blacks in Europe, bagged that sole five-pointer and Tasman have also lost impressive lock Pari Pari Parkinson to a growing injury list.
But Renton said the province pride themselves on a next-man-up mentality where any replacement can step into the jersey and perform.
After a fairly anonymous showing on the left wing in that previous matchup, the leading NPC try scorer Leicester Fainga'anuku has been moved to centre, where he should have more impact.
Tasman will get a second crack at the Magpies in Napier on Saturday. Photo / NZME
The Magpies have reverted to their first-choice lineup following a couple weeks to rest players and experiment after securing first place in the regular season and home finals.
Ash Dixon and Tiaan Falcon have both left for Japan since the round six win over Tasman but Jacob Devery and Caleb Makene have replaced them seamlessly as the starting hooker and replacement first five respectively.
Although Hawke's Bay had six forwards on the bench in that game, they have opted for a 5-3 split since the arrival of backup halfback Danny Tusitala.
This means Super Rugby loose forwards Gareth Evans and Solomone Funaki both miss out on a place in the 23.
Renton said it is always special coming back to McLean Park to play in front of family and friends.
The TAB on Friday had Magpies as favourites, paying $1.51 to win, with Tasman paying $2.45
