Why ‘lucky’ Tasman could have an edge in NPC quarter against Canterbury

All Black Finlay Christie is confident that Tasman will be up to the task on Sunday afternoon when the Mako host rivals Canterbury in an NPC quarter-final. Tasman may have lost their last regular season game to Taranaki but they remain well prepped for finals footy.

With the Ranfurly Shield on the line for the final time in 2024, the Mako went down swinging 29-42 to a spirited Taranaki outfit at Nelson’s Trafalgar Park. That brought an end to the Mako’s one-month reign as the holder of the prestigious Log o’ Wood.

Tasman won the Shield for the first time with a 25-24 win over Hawke’s Bay in Napier on the 7^th of September. They ended up overcoming two Shield challenges against the then-undefeated Wellington and Auckland before losing to the Naki last weekend.

With a record of 8-2, Tasman finished the round-robin in third place which has matched them up against arch-rivals Canterbury in the quarters. But the Mako are arguably the most finals-ready side on the back of a gruelling month of Shield challenges.

“We’ve been pretty lucky in the way that we’ve played a few Shield games towards the end of the season,” Christie told SENZ’s The Run Home. “They have that kind of finals intensity.

“I think a lot of the boys will be prepped well and have a bit of that experience already.

“The old foes from down the road coming up, doesn’t get much bigger than that for a Tasman team so we’re looking forward to it.

“The boys will be fired up.”

Tasman have been boosted by the return of two All Blacks for this quarter-final showdown with the Cantabrians, with backrower Ethan Blackadder and midfielder David Havili having been released to their province for the week.

Havili has been especially impressive for the Mako in any NPC appearances this season, so the inclusion of the 29-year-old should not go unrecognised. The All Black joins Levi Aumua in the midfield, while Blackadder will run out with the No. 8 on his back.

But, with 14 All Blacks in total having been released for the quarter-final stage, the Mako will have some tough competition waiting for them with a trio set to play for Canterbury. George Bell, Fletcher Newell and Sam Darry have all been named in the team’s starting side.

“It’s been awesome having them back,” Christie explained. “They always add so much to the team and bring that experience and that next level of footy.

“They’ve been training with us the last couple of weeks and we’re bloody glad that we can have them for a big game this weekend.”

The first team to book their place in the NPC semi-finals is Wellington. After finishing in top spot on the ladder, the Lions prepared to take on Counties Manukau in the knockout stage – a side who had beaten them by a cricket score just two weeks earlier.

But with the likes of TJ Perenara returning to provincial duty, the Wellingtonians were in fine form as they recorded a 29-14 win at Sky Stadium. Perenara crossed for a try in what could be the halfback’s last-ever professional rugby match in the capital.