Air NZ Cup Preview: Hawke's Bay v Waikato

Hawke's Bay and Waikato are fashioning one of the more interesting Air New Zealand Cup rivalries of the moment, with Hawke's Bay having the better of it recently. Once again, the pair meet in what promises to be a full-on quarter-final this Sunday.

VENUE & TIME: McLean Park, Napier, Sunday October 12, 14.35 NZT.

HEAD TO HEAD: Played 43 – Hawke's Bay 19, Waikato 23, drawn 1.

LAST TIME: September 20, 2008 (Napier) – Hawke's Bay 24-15 Waikato.

WALKING WOUNDED: Hawke's Bay has made only one change from last week with Matt Berquist – now recovered from his broken finger – returning to the side. Otherwise the Magpies have that tried and true look about them. Waikato held the team that beat Taranaki together as much as possible, but Liam Messam's dodgy hamstring has finally given up the ghost and he sits this one out. Toby Lynn takes over as skipper while Faifili Levave takes the No 6 jersey. Stephen Donald also misses this match, prompting a backline reshuffle, but Mils Muliaina returns after All Black duty at fullback.

FORM: Apart from a fairly substantial loss to an in-form Canterbury team, Hawk's Bay has been travelling nicely in recent weeks. The Magpies showed growing composure throughout the Bay of Plenty match, reducing their error rate and then demolishing the Steamers' defence in the final quarter. Waikato has played some good rugby in the last few weeks after making a dreadful start; the Mooloos needed to fire against Taranaki after the visitors led at one stage by 35-17 but Waikato scored some good tries on the way to a very hard-earned victory.

WHO'S HOT: Hawke's Bay got a tremendous effort from the forwards last week, with Bryn Evans and George Naoupu particularly strong in what was an all-round display of power. If there are any holes in Waikato's rush defence Jason Shoemark will find them; he's been tearing it up in midfield over the last few weeks. The Magpies will hope Berquist's boot has not lost its accuracy over the month he's been off, as kicking could be decisive in this match. Hikairo Forbes has made huge strides this season and offers plenty in the Waikato front row, while the loose forwards will need to be on song against the good Bay trio. Callum Bruce has picked his game up noticeably over recent weeks and this increased confidence is showing in his goal-kicking, which has been first-rate over the last month. Richard Kahui was the best of the returning All Blacks against Taranaki, frequently making breaks when they were most needed.

WE THINK: Our tip is that this will be the pick of the quarter-finals, featuring two teams in good nick at present. We also think Hawke's Bay will just have enough to get over the line in front of a big crowd, but nerves will be jangling until the final whistle.

TEAMS:

Hawke's Bay: 1 – Faka'anaua Taumalolo, 2 - Hikawera Elliot, 3 – Anthony Perenise, 4 – Johan Snyman, 5 – Bryn Evans, 6 – Michael Johnson, 7 – Karl Lowe, 8 – George Naoupu, 9 – Danny Lee (captain), 10 – Matt Berquist, 11 - Zac Guildford, 12 – Sam Giddens, 13 – Jason Shoemark, 14 – Jason Kupa, 15 – Israel Dagg.

Reserves: 16 – Ash Dixon, 17 – Josh Keys, 18 – Matt Egan, 19 – Pama Petia, 20 – Chris Eaton, 21 – Daniel Waenga, 22 – Aayden Clarke.

Waikato: 1 – Hikairo Forbes, 2 – Oli Avei, 3 – Aled de Malmanche, 4 – Toby Lynn (captain), 5 – Romana Graham, 6 – Faifili Levave, 7 – Tom Harding, 8 – Sione Lauaki, 9 – David Bason, 10 – Callum Brue, 11 – Sitiveni Sivivatu, 12 – Jackson Willison, 13 – Richard Kahui, 14 – Sosene Anesi, 15 – Mils Muliaina.

Reserves: 16 – Vern Kamo, 17 – Toby Smith, 18 – Kent Fife, 19 – Matt Blain, 20 – Malcolm Barnes, 21 – Dwayne Sweeney, 22 – Tim Mikkelson.

REFEREE: Vinny Munro