Metro lads keen for test against old foes

Last season’s Metro Colts side after claiming the Broome Shield for finishing top of the table after the round-robin games, and the early-season Friday night competition.
Photo / Supplied

A fresh batch of potential stars step out for the first time on Saturday as the season opens for the St Johns Club Whanganui Metro Colts rugby team.

The Manawatu colts division champions from last season will meet old foe Massey White in a home game at Spriggens Park at 2.30pm.

Mark Cosford and Russell Gedye have taken over as co-coaches from successful duo Darryl Malcolm and Carl Gibson and the pair are keen to retain the tradition and culture of a side launched to help bridge the gap between school and club rugby.

Metro won the Broome Shield for finishing top of the table after the round-robin games last season, and the early-season Friday night competition, then had a convincing 47-7 win over Massey White in their semifinal at Spriggens Park, securing their spot in the final against College Old Boys, which they duly won to take the title.

This year will be Metro’s fourth season and each year, from day one, have improved their end-of-season

positions on the table.

Massey White had previously gone unbeaten in the competition until Metro arrived on the scene and much depends on the time of year to determine their strength.

Massey White are the top Massey University side below premier and senior grade, so during holiday time they are the go-to side for the higher assessed teams seeking to replace key players away on leave.

Cosford said his Metro lads were keen to get a gauge of where they were at early in the competition and Saturday’s match against Massey White would be the barometer.

“We have six players from last season and the rest are new from various backgrounds, although most are from Whanganui High School,” Cosford said.

“We are pretty happy with where the boys are in training and we are comfortable with the talent we have across the board, but game time will tell the full story. We had really good pre-season hitout against the older and more experienced senior B players in Marist Celtic just last Saturday at Spriggens.

“We went very well and held our own against some hardened, experienced players — we’re good to go on Saturday.”

By Iain Hyndman
Whanganui Chronicle 28/3/19