Cyclones aim to blow Waikato away
A win over Waikato this weekend will have the Manawatu¯ Cyclones sitting pretty for a spot in the Farah Palmer Cup semifinals.
Manawatu¯ play Waikato at Hamilton today and a Manawatu¯ win is likely to lock up a spot in the top four with a week to play.
Waikato are a spot above fourthplaced Manawatu¯ , so it won’t be easy.
Cyclones coach Fusi Feaunati wants a win this week so they don’t go into the last round needing to get a result.
‘‘The whole point of the exercise is to go out and win every game. We’re not looking too far ahead of ourselves and we’re not looking to put all our eggs in trying to get the contest against Hawke’s Bay next week.
‘‘We’re going up there to beat Waikato, absolutely.’’
The Cyclones were shut out in their 48-12 loss to defending champions Canterbury last week and didn’t put in a vintage performance in their 22-10 win over Bay of Plenty the previous week, so they will need to be better against Waikato.
After the Canterbury game, Feaunati wanted them to improve their tackling, line-speed, possession and set piece.
‘‘We haven’t performed well in the past couple of weeks and have been off executing our game plan. More in particular, the basic fundamentals have dropped away.’’
There have been a couple of team changes for Saturday’s game.
Vaine Greig and Maggie Leota are back from a trip away with the Cook Islands sevens team. Greig strengthens the midfield and Leota is on the bench.
Sydnee Wilkins, who is originally from Tasman, will start at fullback.
Shanna Porima will start at blindside flanker, pushing Sam Olsen to the bench. The forward pack is otherwise unchanged.
Exciting young backs Carys Dallinger and Kalyn Takitimu-cook are away at the Youth Olympics in Argentina.
Manawatu¯ and Waikato have played six games, with three wins each. Waikato won 36-28 in Palmerston North last year.
❚ Horowhenua Ka¯ piti have a tough fixture in the Heartland today when they play King Country at Paraparaumu Domain.
King Country are third and two points ahead of Horowhenua Ka¯ piti in fifth, so it is a crucial game for the home team if they want to get into the top four.
Table toppers Whanganui host Buller.
Manawatu¯ Cyclones: 15 Sydnee Wilkins, 14 Megan Gaffney, 13 Vaine Greig, 12 Ruby Finau, 11 Lauren Balsilie, 10 Corrineke Windle, 9 Kristina Sue; 8 Nicole Dickins (captain), 7 Sam Tipene, 6 Shanna Porima, 5 Mahalia Polson, 4 Rachael Rakatau, 3 Kahli Tipene, 2 Jayme Nuku, 1 Marilyn Live. Reserves: 16 Sequita Hemmingway, 17 Abby Rivers, 18 Jessica Fagan-pease, 19 Sam Olsen, 20 Lucy Brown, 21 Nicola Chase, 22 Maggie Leota.
Farah Palmer Cup points: Premiership: Canterbury 17, Counties Manukau 17, Waikato 15, Manawatu¯ 11, Auckland 5, Bay of Plenty 5. Championship: Wellington 16, Hawke’s Bay 14, North Harbour 10, Otago 10, Tasman 5, Taranaki 0.