Tasman stands in way of home semifinal

Otago Spirit hooker Tegan Hollows fends Hawkes Bay winger Felicity Powdrell at the University...
Otago Spirit's captain Tegan Hollows. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
All going well, the Otago Spirit will host Hawke’s Bay in the semifinal next weekend.

But first the Spirit will need to dispatch Tasman in Blenheim today and hope Manawatu can beat Hawke’s Bay without conceding a bonus point.

That would see Otago (15 points) leapfrog Hawke’s Bay (19 points) in the championship tier of the Farah Palmer Cup.

Wellington leads the championship with 21 points and is heavily favoured to beat the winless Taranaki and secure a home venue for the other playoff game.

If Otago and Hawke’s Bay finish level on points, Otago will be ranked higher courtesy of its 31-12 win against Hawke’s Bay in round 2.

Either way the sides are destined to play each other, it is just a matter of where.

Scott Manson
Scott Manson

Spirit coach Scott Manson would prefer the game was played in Dunedin, obviously. He has been forced into more changes this weekend.

Openside flanker Zoe Whatarau has been ruled out with a knee complaint. The converted halfback has done a tremendous job filling in on the side of the scrum following the injury to regular starter Georgia Mason.

Her absence sees a bit of a shuffle in the loose forwards. Morgan Henderson will move to No7, while Janelle Romanchuck gets a start at blindside. The captain Tegan Hollows will remain at No8.

Manson hopes, with a bit of rest, Whatarau will be available for the semifinals next weekend.

"She has been very impressive, especially considering she was playing halfback last year and even during the club season."

Winger Amy Du Plessis has concussion symptoms and is replaced by Trisha Hopcroft. Amy Rule returns at tighthead prop for Eilis Doyle.

Black Ferns midfielder Kilisitina Moata’ane has missed most of the campaign with an ankle injury.

She made her playing return from the bench during the 68-0 win against Taranaki in New Plymouth last weekend and is promoted to the starting XV.

"She did really well in the weekend. She came on for 25 minutes and ripped up."

Manson said Tasman might be a bit tougher than their record suggests but his side is targeting a bonus point win.

He expects Tasman will look to use its scrum to get some momentum.

"At the start of the year their scrum was better than ours so it will be interesting to see how much our scrum has improved and whether we are better than them in that regard.

"But we’ll back ourselves in our lineout and the ability of our backs to score some tries."

 

Farah Palmer Cup
Blenheim, today, 2.05pm

Otago: Sheree Hume, Trisha Hopcroft, Kilisitina Moata’ane, Greer Muir, Cheyenne Cunningham, Rosie Kelly, Rosie Buchanan-Brown, Tegan Hollows, Morgan Henderson, Janelle Romanchuck, Jess Kendall, Kate Smith, Amy Rule, Rebecca Todd, Isla Pringle. Reserves: Morgan Walker, Paige Church, Jess Dermody, Julia Gorinski, Sammy Wong, Georgina McCullough, Kiana Wereta.

Tasman: Crystal Mayes, Michelle Curry, Hayley Hutana, Staci Kohe, Amelia Hammett, Sophie O’Cain, Jamie Paenga, Jessica Foster-Lawrence, Kelly Standford, Rheanna Wood, Tamara Silcock, Jaunita Thomson, Louise Malder, Stephani Mitchell, Anna Bradley. Reserves: Kelly Couper, Erika Saunders, Gina Healey, Hannah Beech, Hannah Kelly, Demi Salton, Leti Fotumoala.

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