Southland club rugby is taking a break for a very important weekend on the calendar.
Woodlands beware.
Pirates Old Boys is three from three and very much looking forward to the May 8 game against the defending champion.
POB started the season with the very modest goal of not getting demoted.
But, with wins against the Barbarians, Star and Marist, the team has upgraded its expectations.
Coach Ben McHugh said the game against Woodlands in a fortnight would provide a very real measure of how far his side has come.
Woodlands dominated last season.
"That is the big game," McHugh said.
"That is where we will test ourselves.
"They romped in in the final [last season] and they are stacked. It is a bit of a gripe down here. A lot of us like beating Woodlands."
POB has performed well and is growing in confidence. It leads the competition standings and has a new aim of making the playoffs.
"The competition is not won in the first three weeks ... but we are not complaining," he said.
"If people had said we’d be where we are now, and having beaten teams like Star and Marist, we’d take it.
"But because of our start, we have reset our goals."
POB has had a wee setback with loosehead prop Leonard Gavin picking up a shoulder injury.
He is out for five weeks but is expected to be a key player when he returns.
Loose forwards Dustin Coveney and Ben Keenan have been in fine touch. Coveney has moved down from Christchurch to chase a spot in the Southland side and is a strong ball-carrier, while Keenan is a workhorse.
Pint-sized halfback Josh Murrell’s passing game has really helped POB get the width its wants to play with, while experienced first five-eighth Greg Dyer has distributed well and provided good direction.
Southland midfielder Isaac Te Tamaki brings plenty of X-factor out wide.
"We’ve been underachieving during the last few years. But we’ve got 11 or 12 guys that are either in the Southland side or in the Bs.
"We should be better than we’ve been so we’ve put the onus on the guys and they have answered the call.
"Their defence has just been fantastic."
Hopefully the defence stays that way and does not suddenly develop holes like our feathered and tasty friends.
