New support for Papanui

Press, 1 October 1983, Page 64

New support for Papanui

By

JOHN COFFEY

Papanui will have support from an unexpected source when it continues its Tusk Cup rugby league campaign against Upper Hutt in Wellington tomorrow.

Supporters of Randwick, the other Wellington entrant in the national knock-out competition, will be temporarily transferring their allegiance to Papanui. They believe that Randwick would have an easier passage through to the final if Papanui, rather than Upper Hutt, was its opponent in the semi-final a week later.

Randwick first has to eliminate Wanganui United in Wellington tomorrow which should not be too difficult. The Wanganui side, representing Manawatu, thrashed Rai Valley (Marlborough), 112-6, and edged out Omahu Huias (Hawke’s Bay), 24-23. Although Randwick beat Upper Hutt in the Welling-

ton championship grand final, it was taken to extra time. This season the teams have had two wins each and a draw in five meetings. If Papanui succeeds tomorrow, the semi-final will be played at the Show Grounds.

But it would be a surprise if Papanui did win against Upper Hutt. Its only match since September 4 was at Gisborne two weeks ago, though it is interesting to note that both Papanui and Upper Hutt had identical six-point winning margins over the West Coast titleholder, Runanga. Mangakino, of Midlands, is already through to the last four. The other quarterfinal will be held at Carlaw Park on Tuesday, between Mount Albert (Auckland) and the survivor from today’s game between Otahuhu (Auckland) and Waitara (Taranaki) at New Plymouth.