Intriguing local derby - June 2016
Colts clash sees Whanganui High School as early favourite playing at home.
THE eagerly-awaited local derby between the two Whanganui-based sides competing in the McDonald's Manawatu Colts rugby division looms this Saturday.
Both the Whanganui High School 1st XV and the St Johns Club Wanganui Metro Colts are safe to make the Top Six competition starting in three weeks time and both sides have players returning from injury.
Defending Manawatu Colts division champions Massey White are at the top of the leaderboard and unbeaten with 28 points with two games to go in the first group of round robin match-ups, while WHS sits second on 24 after winning six of the the seven games so far. WHS' only hiccup was defaulting to Massey White two weeks ago to allow key players to recover. They received a further week to recover when Massey Ag defaulted to WHS last weekend.
Metro is third on the table with 21 points after wining five of its seven games. It does have two bonus points after losing two narrowly.
WHS was runner-up in this competition last season, while Metro has debuted this season. WHS goes into Saturday's derby narrow favourites, especially having the advantage of a home game at High School. Kick-off is at 1pm.
WHS team manager Richard Bennett said while the side will go into this weekend's clash on the fresh side, they had still practiced on the default Saturdays and that was over and above normal training.
"We have had a few injuries, so those two default weekends have allowed players to recover," Bennett said yesterday.
"It appears we are both safe to make the Top Six round of this competition, but that won't mean we will be complacent. We will be going out to win this Saturday. We are aware there has been a bit of talk leading up match and I'm sure it will be a good game. Hopefully the weather plays its part and we can both play our normal style of running rugby."
Metro coaches Carl Gibson and Darryl Malcolm both agreed it would be an exciting game, however, Malcolm will miss the match. He will be Dad on duty watching daughter Kate compete in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country in Rotorua. Ironically, Kate Malcolm will be running for WHS.
"We have had some injury issues as well, so it's been a blessing having a bye and then a match put off due to the weather in recent weeks allowing recovery time," Gibson said.
"We are still working on forming combinations and just because we are playing WHS won't change that this weekend. We know it will be a tough match and that they are an excellent team and we will certainly be going out for a win. But we know were are both safe for the Top Six, so we know we will meet again," Gibson said.
From the word go both Malcolm and Gibson have had a policy of giving all Metro players game time, especially during this spell of round robin play. After all the team was put together to provide a bridge competition to prepare school leavers for senior or even premier rugby rather than lose them to the game.
Gibson said players had been told right from the start they would all get game time, although when it gets down to the nitty gritty a main team would begin to take form - tinkering with combinations at this stage of the competition would help provide a clearer picture.