Turbos on mission for shield
If the Manawatu¯ Turbos can topple Otago and win the Ranfurly Shield tomorrow night, the rough start to the season will be forgotten.
The Turbos head to Dunedin for a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Otago, where they will be looking to bounce back from their 64-3 loss to Tasman last week.
The Turbos are without a win after three games, but coach Peter Russell hasn’t taken the Tasman loss to heart. He hoped Manawatu¯ had shaken some demons out of their system ahead of the Otago match.
A win against Otago will put the Tasman loss to bed, but Russell is wary of not putting everything into it and sinking the rest of the season.
‘‘We’ve mentioned [the shield],’’ Russell said. ‘‘It’s a focus point, but not the focus point. The focus point is getting the things right we haven’t got right the past couple of weeks.’’
He said the biggest thing was getting their mindset right so they could get a result.
‘‘It’s another competition game with competition points up for grabs, plus there’s an iconic trophy, which this province hasn’t had for 40 years.’’
Manawatu¯ has had six unsuccessful Ranfurly Shield challenges in the modern era and it has been 41 years since they last held the shield during the 1976-78 reign.
Russell said they went back to bad habits in the Tasman game, rather than sticking to their game plan.
‘‘The tackle percentage was high, but we let in 13 line breaks.’’
He said they focused on
defence this week. He believed they built pressure when they had the ball, but turnovers cost them.
The Turbos will now have lock Jackson Hemopo for the remainder of the season, having missed out on the All Blacks World Cup squad.
Midfielder Ngani Laumape also missed the cut for the cup. He is taking a break, but after that
should be available for the rest of the season.
Flanker Rhys Pedersen is out with a hamstring injury so Nick Crosswell, in what will be his 97th game, starts in the unfamiliar No 7 jersey
Regular lock Liam Mitchell moves to blindside flanker, with Tom Hughes starting at lock alongside Hemopo.
Prop Fa’alelei Sione, who replaced Fraser Armstrong when Armstrong injured his groin in the warm up last week, starts again.
Sione Tu’ipulotu keeps his spot at No 8 after making the most carries last week.
Youngster Drew Wild moves to the wing with the return of fullback Sam Malcolm from injury. The rest of the backline stays the same.
Prop Paulo Leleisiauo comes on to the bench, as does former Hurricanes fullback Andre Taylor for his first game for Manawatu¯ since 2009. Taylor played 33 games before joining Taranaki.
Rob Thompson is still recovering from a calf injury.
Manawatu¯ have lost their past three matches against Otago and last won in 2014 in Dunedin. Hamish Northcott, Jamie Booth, Otere Black, Crosswell, Fraser Stone and Nick Grogan remain from that team.
Former Turbos halfback Kayne Hammington is in the starting side for Otago this weekend, while former Feilding High School outside backs Jona Nareki and Vili Koroi are in the Otago team.