‘All Crusaders region’ rugby final hailed

"We are going to have a full-on atmosphere . . .'' Canterbury Rugby Union chief executive Hamish Riach

Rugby officials are bracing themselves for a ‘‘full-on atmosphere’’ at the all-Crusaders region grand final when Canterbury hosts Tasman in the Mitre10 Cup decider at AMI Stadium tonight.

More than 10,000 tickets have been pre-sold and Canterbury Rugby Union chief executive Hamish Riach said a ‘‘tranche of tickets’’ had gone to Tasman Makos fans, who were making the trek south.

The Makos supporters – with their ‘‘fin’s up’’ catchcry – include a bunch of die-hards dubbed The Hammerheads.

‘‘We are going to have a full-on atmosphere; we know there are going to be a lot of people coming down [from Nelson and Marlborough],’’ Riach said.

Canterbury are chasing their eighth national title in the last nine years. Tasman are in their second final after losing to Taranaki in New Plymouth in 2014.

‘‘Wearing a Crusaders hat, it’s a marvellous occasion to have the two teams from our region playing each other in the premiership final for the first time,’’ said Riach, the Crusaders’ CEO.

He recalled a conversation many years ago with former Crusaders board member Max Spence, ‘‘who was so instrumental in setting up the Tasman union’’.

‘‘He said: ‘it would be fantastic if, one day, we could have a Canterbury-Tasman final. What a wonderful thing for the Crusaders region to celebrate’.’’

There are plenty of ties between the two teams.

Tasman Makos coaches Leon MacDonald and Mark Hammett played for the Crusaders with Canterbury counterparts Scott Robertson and Joe Maddock.

MacDonald will work with head coach Robertson at the Crusaders next season.

Makos men David Havili, Kieron Fonotia, Mitchell Hunt and Pete Samu were Crusaders players in 2016.

Fonotia, the Tasman centre, and Canterbury fullback Johnny McNicholl are good friends who will both be playing their last games in New Zealand before flying to Wales together to join rival clubs.

Canterbury halfback Mitchell Drummond, who will miss the final through injury, grew up in Nelson.

His father, Shane Drummond, a former Tasman Rugby Union chairman, bought 1500 tickets this week to give away free to Makos supporters.

Ethan Blackadder - whose father Todd, was a former Crusaders coach and ex-Canterbury captain - is in the Makos reserves.