Hurunui make finals debut against incumbents Kaiapoi in North Canterbury Final

For the first time in the combined club’s history, Hurunui will feature in a Division 1 final, with the club taking on Kaiapoi in this weekend’s Luisetti Seeds North Canterbury final.

With the recent wintery weather forcing a downgrade of the traditional finals day, it still promises to be an exciting day of rugby at Mandeville, in a celebration of everything North Canterbury. 

Hurunui and Kaiapoi have become regular foes over the course of the season, already facing each other three times so far, with Kaiapoi the victor all three times. 

After an opening week 25-17 win, their Group B fixture in the Luisetti Seeds Combined Competition ended 25-27, while the teams would meet again in the Plate Semi-Final, with Kaiapoi winning another close one 19-18. 

It leaves Kaiapoi Coach Frank Soli under no illusions about what his side is up against on Saturday, with the most important fixture of the season to come as Kaiapoi look to repeat their 2021 finals win. 

“We’ve had some really close battles with Hurunui this season,” said Soli, “they’ve got a great side and have had guys like Ben Funnell and Hamish Dalzell make a huge impact on their forwards and the whole team.” 

Hurunui Co-Coaches Bede Crean and Jason McDonald have also worked hard at gelling a team that covers the entire Hurunui district, and will be looking to emulate the Culverden-Waiau side of 1987, the last Hurunui based side to win the North Canterbury competition. 

“We’re notoriously slow starters with all the lads spread out over such a large area, but the North Canterbury round is something we can focus on.” Crean said.  

“We’ve been in must win mode since the restart of the North Canterbury competition and the last two games have been knockout fixtures for us.” 

“Each time we’ve played Kaiapoi, it’s been a real battle against them. We have had some close fought results so hopefully we can get over the line this Saturday.” said Crean. 

Soli and his team will have the advantage of playing at home and it’s a point they are not taking for granted. “It’s great to have the opportunity to play at home and have all of our supporters there with us, it will be sure to add a boost to the team.” 

The match will be refereed by Karl Hancox and his AR’s are Jared Le Gros and Russell Lane. Kick off is at 3pm at the Mandeville Sports Centre.