The Star: October 24, 2019

The Star Thursday October 24 2019
36
SPORT
Pride need to win
home and away to
boost final hopes
• By Gordon Findlater
A DOUBLE-HEADER southern
derby this weekend will be
pivotal to Canterbury United
Pride’s hopes of qualifying for
another National Women’s
League final.
The Pride had their perfect
start to this year’s campaign
bought to halt by Northern
Lights 1-3 at English Park over
the weekend. Now they will face
third-placed Southern away on
Saturday before hosting them
again on Monday.
“I have put emphasis on this
weekend being more important
than dropping three points last
weekend,” said Pride coach Alana
Gunn.
“As a group the feeling is fine.
We’re still on target for what our
goal is and dropping three points
wasn’t the end of the world.”
Southern are currently two
points behind Canterbury, meaning
the Pride have a chance to
potentially open the gap on their
rivals to eight.
However, Gunn knows that
will be a tough task against the
southerners who have improved
vastly in recent years and turned
heads with a 5-5 draw against
Northern last month. She expects
STRIKER: Nicola
Dominikovich fought hard
during the Pride’s 1-3 loss to
Northern at the weekend.
their physical and direct game
to be on full display over the two
games.
“They’ve been really effective
with that. They put five goals past
Northern, which is impressive,”
she said.
The match is also expected to
have a rivalry feel. The majority
of the players know each other
having come through South
Island age group camps and tournaments
together.
“It will be interesting because
we have Lara [Wall] and Britney-
Lee [Nicholson] who played for
Southern last year. Lara has been
right through their system the
whole time so it will be interesting
to see how she feels. I think
she’s quite looking forward to it,”
said Gunn.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Bulls face NRL stars
• By Gordon Findlater
THE CANTERBURY Bulls
have the rare chance to test
themselves against some of the
NRL’s biggest stars when they
host Samoa at Nga Puna Wai
tomorrow night.
While the odds will firmly
be stacked in favour of Samoa
outclassing the provincial side,
Canterbury will have hopes of
causing an upset and replicating
the accomplishments of the 1990
side which upset a touring Great
Britain side 18-10.
“It’s pretty cool that it’s happened
in Canterbury with us
beating a national team before,
we’ll definitely be using that as
inspiration,” said Canterbury
Bulls coach Andrew Auimatagi.
Matt Parish’s Samoa side
arrived in Christchurch on Tuesday
full of NRL talent. He says
a full strength side will be put
out on Friday night which they
are using as a dress rehearsal for
their test against Fiji in Auckland
on November 2.
“We think it’s ideal preparation
other than being a bit chilly
. . . the new facilities in Christchurch
are fantastic,” said Parish,
who saw Canterbury defeat New
South Wales Country earlier this
month 17-16.
“They’ve got some big boys
who can run the ball and a good
half [Tevin Arona] that played
for Cook Islands at the nines
STAR POWER: Sea Eagles prop/lock Martin Taupau is one of
many NRL players in the Samoa side. ​
‘The new facilities in
Christchurch are fantastic’
– Matt Parish
over the weekend, so they will be
a good test for us.”
Tonight Samoa will hold an
open training session for the
public at Nga Puna Wai from
4-5pm.
•Entry for Friday’s match is
$15 for adults and $5 for 16 and
under. Kick-off 7.30pm.
Samoa squad: Tim
Lafai (St George Illawarra
Dragons), Joey Leilua
(Canberra Raiders),
Jorge Taufua (Manly
Sea Eagles), Brian Too
(Penrith Panthers), Jarome
Luai (Penrith Panthers),
Danny Levi (Newcastle
Knights), Lalotoa Mata’afa
(Canterbury Bulldogs),
Marion Seve (Melbourne
Storm), Junior Paulo
(Parramatta Eels), Dunamis
Lui (Canberra Raiders),
Martin Taupau (Manly
Sea Eagles), Moses Leota
(Penrith Panthers), Luciano
Leilua (St George Illawarra
Dragons), James Gavet
(Huddersfield Giants),
Bunty Afoa (New Zealand
Warriors), Michael Chee
Kam (Wests Tigers), Ligi
Sao (Hull FC).
in brief
Over-50s provincial
cricket tournament
Christchurch will host New
Zealand’s best over-50 cricketers
in the next four days. The
inaugural over-50s interprovincial
tournament will see
four teams play each other in a
round-robin followed by a grandfinal.
The teams are Auckland,
Districts, Wellington/Tasman and
Canterbury/Otago. Canterbury/
Otago are due to open their
campaign against Wellington/
Tasman at Burnside Park today.
They then play Auckland at
Hagley Park’s nursery ground on
Friday and Districts at Burnside
on Sunday. The final will be at the
nursery ground on Monday.
Van Klink wins NZ Rally
Championship section
Christchurch’s Marcus van Klink
has secured the two-wheel drive
section of the New Zealand Rally
Championship after a thrilling
battle in the final round at the
Rally of Waitomo. Van Klink
came into the round in his triple
rotor Mazda RX8 tied on points
with Anthony Jones in a Ford
Escort. Jones took the first three
stage wins to open a 26sec gap.
Van Klink reduced it to 7sec
after a win on stage four. Going
into the sixth and final stage,
he trailed Jones by 9sec. On the
43km, Jones was forced to retire
with mechanical issues, giving
van Klink the title.
Cricket schedule a shambles
THIS WEEK has seen some of
the best quality cricket played
at Hagley Oval since it became
Christchurch’s home of cricket,
but you likely wouldn’t have had
a chance to witness it.
Since Monday, Canterbury
and a star-studded Northern
Districts side have been battling
it out in the season’s opening
four-day Plunket Shield match at
Hagley Oval.
Monday and the early part
of Tuesday saw a Canterbury
side containing Black Caps
Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls
and Todd Astle battle to an
impressive 390 against a ND
bowling line-up containing
Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil
Wagner, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell
Santner.
What a great spectacle to
wander along to Hagley Oval
and witness for free – well for
anyone who doesn’t work during
the week or attend school.
It’s no secret that sport at a
provincial or domestic level
in New Zealand is waning in
interest, but sometimes you
can’t help but think sporting
organisations aren’t doing
themselves any favours with
promoting their game.
It would have been well known
for some time by New Zealand
Cricket that Black Caps players
were going to be available for the
opening round of the Plunket
Shield. With Canterbury and
ND stacked with Black Caps
at Hagley Oval – including
captain Kane Williamson – it
seems nothing short of a wasted
opportunity not to start the
game at the weekend rather than
on Monday.
To rub salt into the wound
One-eyed Cantab
Gordon Findlater
gordon.findlater@starmedia.kiwi
MISSED OPPORTUNITY: If you’re unemployed or on the
pension you can see 10 current Black Caps including Trent
Boult in action at Hagley Oval today.
the weekend was an absolute
belter. The thought of spending
Sunday in the sun on the grass
embankment watching three
of the world’s top 10 ranked
test batsmen and two of the 10
bowlers is tantalising, not to
mention it wouldn’t cost a cent.
It’s just as much a loss to Joe
Public hunting for something
to do in Christchurch at the
weekend other than joining
every other person in the city
at the latest nook and cranny
which has opened up as part of
the rebuild in the CBD.
On Monday, Nicholls and
Cole McConchie both scored
centuries during a partnership
of 182, which set a new
Canterbury fourth-wicket
record. Their stand broke a mark
of 181 that was set by Vaughn
Brown and Latham’s father Rod
more than 30 years ago.
It’s a shame the milestone
couldn’t be celebrated in front of
at least a couple of hundred who
would have surely wandered
down to see witness the high
profile Black Caps making a rare
domestic cricket appearance.
Instead it was met with the
applause of around 30 purists
who had ventured down from
their over-60s units with the
quintessential camping chair
and Thermos flask.
I’m all for the instalment of
lights at Hagley Oval – which is
going through public feedback
currently – however, I can’t help
but be cynical about the fact
we’re going to such lengths to
gain an audience in India when
the powers that be can’t put a
little more thought into making
our domestic game more
accessible.