Horowhenua face South Canterbury
Have to stop impressive winning streak
Horowhenua-Ka¯piti will have to stop one of the most impressive winning streaks in New Zealand provincial rugby history to beat South Canterbury at Levin tomorrow.
The green-and-black juggernaut rolls into town shooting for its 18thstraight victory in the Heartland competition, which stretches all the way back to their Lochore Cup winning season in 2019.
As if that wasn’t enough to put swing in their swag, their status as a team to beat was further enhanced by a brave Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke’s Bay in June, scoring three tries in a meritorious 38-20 loss that threatened to return the log of wood to a Heartland union for the first time in almost 50 years.
South Canterbury kicked off their Meads Cup title defence last weekend with a 23-17 win against Thames Valley at Temuka, and were raging $2.75 favourites with TAB bookmakers to retain the Meads Cup.
Horowhenua-Ka¯piti odds have firmed slightly after their opening round 30-22 win against Nga¯ti Porou East Coast at Ruatoria — they are now paying $10 after an opening quote of $12.
They were down at halftime against East Coast, and got home courtesy of some late tries.
The coaching staff of Chris Wilton and Aleni Feagaiga have made only minor changes to the team that beat East Coast, with Jack TatuRobertsson coming in a halfback after missing last weekend with a family commitment, while Willie Paia’aua is out with injury.
Club championship winning captain and Waikanae hooker Tyrone Parson makes his representative debut and a chance to make his mark in provincial rugby off the bench.
The front row battle would be a topic of interest as the South Canterbury front row were extremely experienced and their two props Tokomaata Fakatavaa and Vaka Taelaga played for the Heartland selection at the end of last season.
But the home team were no mugs in the dark art department. Prop Scott Cameron was a 62-game veteran who made the Heartland team in 2017, and while he only had one representative game under his belt, his young propping partner Slade Salton had shown heaps of promise.
In other matches Heartland matches from last weekend, Buller, who went winless last year, ended its run of defeats by beating Mid Canterbury 34-29, while King Country, who finished last in 2021, started their centennial year celebrations with a 30-22 win over Poverty Bay.
Horowhenua-Ka¯ piti: 1 Slade Salton. 2 Sase Va’a. 3 Scott Cameron. 4 Ryan Shelford. 5 Kale Erickson. 6 Joel Winterburn. 7 Aaron Lahmert. 8 Callum Watts-Pointer. 9 Jack TatuRobertson. 10 Hamish Buick. 11 Louis Northcott. 12 Tyler Tane. 13 Tautau Kapea. 14 Trevor Owens. 15 Keaton Kawana. 16 Tyrone Parson. 17 Jordon Tupai-ui. 18 David McErlean. 19 Ryan Hickey. 20 Kolonio Koto. 21 Trent Reti. 22 Thomas Barnsley. 23 Connor Paki.
Head Coach — Chris Wilton, Assistant Coach — Aleni Feagaiga. Managers — Tom Zimmerman and Tipu Luke.
Water/Strapper — Debbie Jackson. Physio — Yurri Hynson. Video Analyst — Nick McVeigh.
■ SCOREBOARD: Round One: Buller 34 (Jamie Tinetti, Mitieli Kaloudigibeci, Jack Parker, Isei Iewaqai 2 tries; Parker 3 con, pen) Mid Canterbury 29 (Tom Reekie, Adam Williamson 2, Michael Hennings tries; Reekie 2 con, pen; Nathan McCloy con). HT: 14-17
Nga¯ti Porou East Coast 14 (Jurian Tangaere, Api Pewharangi tries; Carlos Kemp 2 con) Horowhenua Kapiti 32 (Willie Paia’aua, Sase Va’a, Scott Cameron, Tautau Kapea, Keaton Kawana tries; Tyler Tane 2 con, pen). HT: 14-13
King Country 30 (Oliver Foote, Zach Wickham-Darlington, Zayn Tipping tries; Quinn Collard 3 con, 3 pen) Poverty Bay 22 (James Higgins, Moses Christie, Tione Hubbard tries; Christie 2 con, pen) HT: 30-22
South Canterbury 23 (William Wright, Liueli Simote tries; Sam Briggs 2 con, 3 pen) Thames Valley 17 (Laulea Mau Fangifangu, Dwayne Sweeney tries; Todd Doolan 2 con, pen). HT: 20-7