Winning streak on the line: Ngati Porou would love to be the team to stop juggernaut

The Heartland Championship’s Meads Cup top-four final is in four weeks but tomorrow’s week-seven clash could well be the game of the year. 

The Ngāti Porou East Coast Kaupoi will play a season-defining match against two-time defending Meads Cup champions South Canterbury at 2.30pm in Timaru tomorrow. 

The hosts have won six from six in the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship to date and a New Zealand record 37 in a row. They stand as the most dominant force in the 18-year history of Heartland rugby. 

Last year, in the Meads Cup 1 v 4 semifinals, the Coast gave the southerners a fright when they led them 17-3 shortly after halftime. But the home side finished strongly to win 34-17 — a score that flattered how hard they were made to work. 

“We’re excited because to be the best, you have to beat the best and South Canterbury have set the bar in the last two seasons,” Kaupoi head coach Kahu Tamatea said. 

“It’s a big day for us with our lock Hoani Te Moana playing his 50th game for the Coast on Saturday. Hoani is a hard-working, humble guy who does the hard yards as a forward, as a player, all day. He’s a man whose actions speak for him.” 

Historically, the ledger is 13 to three in South Canterbury’s favour in meetings with the Coast, but all’s fair on a level playing field tomorrow — one which is 40% grass and 60% artificial, at a cost of $8.4 million. 

Another motivating factor could be at play tomorrow — the Allan “Smiley” Haua Memorial Trophy that honours a great teacher and gentleman with East Coast ties who settled in Timaru. 

South Canterbury hold it. The Coast want it — while a victory would also boost their chances of making the top four and consolidate their spot in the top eight (the fifth- to eighth-placed teams contest the Lochore Cup). 

Heading into tomorrow, South Canterbury lead the point standings with a perfect 30, followed by Whanganui on 26, Thames Valley 24 and Mid Canterbury 20. 

King Country are fifth on 18, Horowhenua-Kāpiti are sixth on 16, West Coast seventh on 16 and the Coast eighth on 15, with five points back to ninth-placed Buller, who face Mid Canterbury in week seven. 

The Coast will once again be led by halfback Sam Parkes, whose try double against West Coast last week earned him the accolade of having scored the most tries for NPEC at national provincial level. His 25 tries are one more than Jimmy Kururangi, who played for the Coast between 1979 and 1996. 

The ref tomorrow will be Clinton farm manager Caleb Neilsen (Otago). 

Tomorrow’s teams

Ngati Porou East Coast Kaupoi, 1-23: Manahi Brooking, Joseph Royal, Perrin Manuel (vc), Kaydin Budd, Hoani Te Moana, Richie Green, Will Bolingford, Aorangi Stokes, Sam Parkes (c), Te Rangi Fraser, Pamona Samupo, Leigh Bristowe, Apirana Pewhairangi, Teaotahi Tuhaka, Fletcher Carpenter. Res: Jayden Leiua-Pokia, Braxton Bonica-Kururangi, Kauri Waitoa, Rico Te Kani, Paora Mullany, Josh Dearden, Carlos Kemp, Verdon Bartlett. 

South Canterbury, 1-23: Tokoma'ata Fakatava (cc), Hika Elliot, Taufa Hala'ufia, Anthony Amato, Solomone Lavaka, Tangi Savelio, Ben Kerr, Siu Kakala, William Wright (cc), Miles Medlicott, Peala Matakaiongo, Paula Fifita, Clarence Moli, Lisiate Folau, Liueli Simote. Res: Connor Anderson, Jack Pani, Garret Casey, Paula Moli, Loni Toumohuni, Fa'alele Iosua, Zac Saunders, Morrison Vaisola.