2018 MITRE 10 CUP DRAW ANNOUNCED

Tasman will open their 2018 Mitre 10 Cup provincial rugby season with a rematch of the 2017 final.

The Mako are drawn to meet NPC champions Canterbury at Lansdowne Park, Blenheim on Friday evening, August 17.

In the premiership decider last year Canterbury downed Tasman 35-13 in Christchurch, clinching the Red and Blacks’ 14th national title. The 2018 draw gives Tasman an early chance to make amends, albeit at the wrong end of the gruelling competition.

The following weekend Blenheim will host Tasman’s second match, a clash with championship side Southland on Sunday afternoon, August 26.

The next home game for the Mako is on Friday September 14, against Taranaki at Trafalgar Park, Nelson, followed by fixtures at the same venue against Counties Manukau (September 23) and the final round robin match, against Hawke’s Bay, on October 11.

The semifinals are scheduled for October 19-20 with the NPC premiership final to be played on Saturday October 27.

Tasman will play all their six premiership rivals, plus championship teams Southland, Manawatu, Otago and Hawke’s Bay. With a home game scheduled against Ranfurly Shield holders Taranaki, Tasman will have to wait another year for a tilt at the Log of Wood, unless results go their way. 

Tasman Rugby Union CEO Tony Lewis was satisfied with the draw, despite the short turnaround in the final week of round robin when the Mako meet Otago in Dunedin on Sunday, then tackle Hawke’s Bay in Nelson four days later.

"We would probably have liked a bit more gap in the last week,” he suggested, "but it is what it is and if we want to be serious candidates to win the thing we have just got to bite the bullet and get on with it.”

Lewis said the rationale behind scheduling both opening fixtures in Marlborough was based around creating a "festival of rugby” over eight days in Blenheim. Plus, the union had always wanted to play the Canterbury fixture in Blenheim this season, and history suggested Southland were a good drawcard at Lansdowne Park.

He said a pre-season fixture against Wellington would also be played on this side of the hill, the week before the Canterbury game, probably at a local club ground, as happened with Awatere last year in Seddon.

New coaching team:

Lewis also announced the new coaching line-up for the Makos, with two new, but familiar, faces joining head coach Leon MacDonald and attack coach Andrew Goodman as part of the coaching crew.

Former Mako captain Shane Christie comes on board as forward and defence coach, along with former All Black Clarke Dermody who will be the new set piece coach.

Dermody, who played three times for the All Blacks in 2006, 44 games for the Highlanders and on 89 occasions for Southland, has been the Highlanders’ set piece coach for the past three years.

Lewis said he was a "great acquisition”.

"He comes highly recommended … and will build on the good work Greg Somerville did over the past season.”

Tasman’s 2018 NPC draw

Friday, August 17 v Canterbury in Blenheim 7.35pm

Sunday, August 26 v Southland in Blenheim 2.05pm

Saturday, September 1 v North Harbour in Albany 7.35pm

Friday, September 7 v Auckland in Auckland 7.45pm

Friday, September 14 v Taranaki in Nelson 7.45pm

Wednesday, September 19 v Manawatu in Palmerston North 7.35pm

Sunday, September 23 v Counties Manukau in Nelson 2.05pm

Saturday, September 29 v Wellington in Wellington 7.35pm

Sunday October 7 v Otago in Dunedin 4.35pm

Thursday October 11 v Hawke’s Bay in Nelson 7.35pm