Clash of the titans in final
The Southland rugby league competition is set to reach an exciting climax when He Tauaa and Cowboys meet in the final on Saturday at Sandy Point.
The two teams have met three times this season, with He Tauaa winning the two regular season fixtures 40-26 and 38-32, while Cowboys edged the defending champions 20-18 in a golden point thriller playoff win a fortnight ago to book their spot in the final.
Both teams are full of representative players who benefited from the experience of playing for the Southland Rams last season.
He Tauaa coach Moses Fa’amoeIoane is excited at the prospect of the mouthwatering clash.
The narrow loss to the Cowboys in their playoff game will provide plenty of motivation for the He Tauaa side.
‘‘Those fellas will know they don’t want it to be that close,’’ he said.
‘‘But you take those lessons, you just work on it and see what you can do with it, it goes hand in hand with it I suppose.’’
Cowboys player/coach Nathan Anderson is looking forward to the encounter.
‘‘We are feeling pretty good, it is always a close game and it is only going to come down to attitude really, so everyone’s keen to get into it, they know it is not going to be easy. It is obviously going to be a pretty tough game,’’ he said.
Anderson isn’t reading too much into his side’s win the last time the two teams met, although because Cooks defaulted to He Tauaa in the semifinal, both teams enter Saturday’s game after a week off to rest niggling injuries.
‘‘I don’t think it really mattered, He Tauaa vs Cowboys Saturday 2pm Sandy Point because no one ended up playing last weekend at all,’’ he said.
‘‘Obviously it will give the boys a little bit of extra confidence, I think we all know how even the teams are and the firepower He Tauaa have, if you don’t turn up on the day you are probably going to get beaten.’’
Saturday’s match will take place at Sandy Point because of soft ground conditions at Elles Road Park, with the winner to meet the top Otago team next month.