Trapp wants support

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 96

Trapp wants support

PA Auckland Give us your support today and in big numbers ... that was the plea yesterday to the Auckland public from the coach, Maurice Trapp, and the captain, Gary Whetton, as the Auckland rugby side prepared for its biggest match of the season. A win at Eden Park today against Otago will not only give Auckland a share in the record for successful Ranfurly Shield defences, it will also give it the first division championship title. But sales indicate there will be only a moderate crowd at Eden Park and this, on top of the 11,000 who attended last week-end’s Manawatu match, has disappointed the Auckland side. “The team would like the same sort of support we had for the North Harbour game,” Mr Trapp said yesterday. “This is the key game of the season. “We fully respect the Otago side and the public should do the same. We’re certainly not blase about anything.” Whetton said the Auckland players, well aware of the tough challenger they were encountering, were looking for a bumper Eden Park crowd as a morale booster. Despite the threat posed by Otago, there appeared to be a strong resolve in the Auckland camp. “We know that not only is the shield and the championship at stake tomorrow but the entire past three or four years,” Whetton said. “We’ve come a long way and now we’re in the home straight and have no intention of falling at the last hurdle,” he said. As well as his captaincy Whetton, of course, has a big playing role as one of the front five today. Most see the battle in the tight between the forward packs as the key to the result. Whetton agreed with this, but said: “It’s really no different from any game. It’s always down to the boys up front.”