The St Kevin’s College and Waitaki Boys’ High School first XVs will do battle in the Blood Match tomorrow for the Leo O’Malley Trophy.
Held on a Saturday for the second straight year, the game will be played at Milner Park at Waitaki Boys’.
St Kevin’s hosted the fixture last year.
That game ended in a 19-19 draw. However, Waitaki Boys’ retained the treasured "peanut" as the previous holders.
In the last five meetings between the teams, each side has won two with one draw and the largest margin of victory has been just six points.
St Kevin’s coach Justin Fowler said his team had "probably exceeded expectations" so far this season as they have qualified for division one in the Southern Schools Rugby Championship (SSRC).
"Being in the top six teams in the competition is pretty special."
One of their five wins this year came against Waitaki Boys’ in a thrilling 29-28 game.
"It was probably our best game of the season," Fowler said.
"It’s probably given us a bit more confidence that we can compete with them."
When asked what the keys to success will be, he kept his answer simple.
"Playing smart, playing in good areas of the paddock and then having good discipline.
"We’ve got some threats in the backline, but we’ve just got to make sure we get enough ball.
"Then defensively, we’ve just got to hold them [Waitaki] out. They’re quite powerful around the ruck, especially near the try line."
His charges were looking forward to enjoying the day.
"It’s a pretty special moment in our community
"Just really looking forward to another great game and hopefully the community gets in behind both schools again and makes it a big day."
Waitaki Boys’ coach Shane Carter said the Blood Match "brings the best out of both schools".
"We’re excited. It should be another good interschool between the two teams."
He has been preaching "the cliches of rugby" to his team in preparation.
"It’s about us staying calm, playing with good confidence and good skill execution.
"The set phase, our scrum and our lineout, being able to win our lineout ball will be critical for us to have enough good ball to attack."
They had to be "enthusiastic and energetic in defence, making sure we shut down their attacking options".
Waitaki Boys’ find themselves in SSRC division two after a strong start to the year and Carter hopes a win tomorrow will help them finish well.
"We started well in the first part of our season and we’ve had a couple of close losses over the last few weeks which has made us rethink about what we’re doing but we’re pretty happy with the way we’re tracking.
"[St Kevin’s] a good side. Obviously the last game was a one-point difference and we’ve looked at that and where we can be better."
The Blood Match kicks off at 11am tomorrow at Milner Park.
