Taranaki have history on side
History remains very much on the Taranaki rugby team’s side when it comes to playing Hawke’s Bay in New Plymouth.
You have to go back to 1972 for the last time the Magpies enjoyed a victory in New Plymouth in what was hardly a vintage year for Taranaki as they won just just three of their 15 matches.
However, history counts for less and less in the national provincial championship these days with the only real constant the strength of Canterbury year-in and year-out.
You could also take the theory that Hawke’s Bay are well overdue a win over the west side of the island.
‘‘They’ll be well organised and they’ll be ready to rip into us,’’ Taranaki assistant coach Willie Rickards said.
The loss of a couple of influential players, including centre Seta Tamanivalu from last week’s opening 30-22 win over Bay of Plenty has the potential to be felt by Taranaki.
Rickards said the threat the Hawke’s Bay inside back pairing of Brad Weber and Ihaia West was one they had hopefully formulated a plan to combat with the former especially with the pace at which he can move around the fringes of the breakdown and at the scrum.
‘‘If you let them control the game and control the tempo it’s going to be a tough day at the office,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve certainly talked about that and aware of their strengths.’’
Taranaki would have gained a bit of confidence from the way they played in patches in Tauranga, most notably the work they did at set piece when they had their starting side on the field.
Where they let themselves down at times was the lack of clarity they appeared to have with referee Mike lash around his rulings at the breakdown under the new law variations, although there was not getting away from the fact they came in from offside too often and failed to maintain their feet, two fundamental parts of the new laws.
Taranaki also need to take a pragmatic approach to their defensive line and not being caught offside when they are not under too much stress.
Aside from those points, Taranaki’s game management and decision making will need to be better against Hawke’s Bay, some- thing they acknowledge without hesitation.
‘‘We’re not pointing the finger at anyone, it was more the decision making as a group in certain parts
of the field we need to improve,’’ Rickards said.
He said the squad had also talked repeatedly about wanting to put a strong performance together in front of their home crowd for the first time this season.
‘‘Coops [coach Colin Cooper] has really been driving the mindset around that and it’s something we really want to do.’’
Hawke’s Bay coach Craig Philpott has had to scratch a host of players he might have hoped to have available for the match which has could leave them susceptible if Taranaki can create pressure.
However, they still have a number of quality line breakers and men who will play directly for long periods.