Tasman name team for semifinal

The Mako selectors have made minimal changes to their starting XV which will take on Bay of Plenty in a Mitre 10 Cup premiership semifinal at Trafalgar Park on Saturday evening.

They both come in the front row. Regular hooker Andrew Makalio has been forced out with a neck injury, clearing the way for Tasman stalwart Quentin MacDonald to get a rare start. Sam Moli comes onto the bench as cover at hooker.

The other change is at tighthead prop where Sam Matenga replaces Isaac Salmon, who is out with injury and is replaced in the squad by Blair Prinsep..

Apart from those tweaks, the starting XV is the same group who got the job done in Dunedin last weekend, ensuring Tasman remained in second spot on the standings and booking a home semifinal.

The Steamers will pose a major threat to the Mako chances of making it back-to-back NPC finals, coming south on the back of a five-match winning streak, which included a 44-8 win over Canterbury, who eclipsed Tasman 29-0.

The good news for Mako fans comes with the fact that when the sides met earlier this year in Nelson, Tasman prevailed 33-7.

However, all the previous form and equations go out the window when play-off rugby comes around and this is sure to be a tight affair.

While the Mako are yet to string together a complete performance, they have shown in patches the sort of attacking flair that took them all the way to the title in 2019.

Up front, a raft of personnel changes has meant new combinations have had to be formed this season. Interestingly, just three players - Sione Havili, Strange and Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta - remain from the 13 forwards named to meet Auckland in the 2019 semifinal.

Reaching the play-offs in such a cut-throat competition, especially since the All Blacks departed, is already a feather in Tasman’s cap, but this highly-motivated and ambitious group will settle for nothing less than a final berth.

The curtain raiser to the Mako match, which kicks off at 7.05pm, is a game between the Black Ferns and a NZ Barbarians side. That match begins at 4.35pm.

Tasman team for Saturday’s semifinal at Trafalgar Park:

Forwards – Ryan Coxon, Quentin MacDonald, Sam Matenga, Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta, Quinten Strange (vice captain), Hugh Renton, Sione Havili, Taina Fox-Matamua.

Backs – Finlay Christie, Mitch Hunt (vice-captain), Leicester Fainga’anuku, Tim O’Malley, Fetuli Paea, Mark Telea, David Havili (captain).

Bench (Sparkies): Sam Moli, Isi Tu’ungafasi, Blair Prinsep, Isaac Ross, Anton Segner, Dwayne Polataivao, Kieron Fonotia, Tima Fainga’anuku.

Injured: Jacob Norris, Alex Nankivell, Andrew Makalio, Isaac Salmon and Louie Chapman.