Magpies hold no fear over Mooloos

For the second year in succession Hawke's Bay will face Waikato in the Air New Zealand Cup quarter-finals at McLean Park in Napier on Saturday.

For the second year in succession Hawke's Bay will face Waikato in the Air New Zealand Cup quarter-finals at McLean Park in Napier on Saturday.

Hawke's Bay finished the round-robin section of the tournament in third place and for the second straight year they'll have a home quarter-final against the same opposition.

The Magpies, it seems, hold a mental advantage over their visitors and will go into this weekend's match as favourites with the Mooloos rated underdogs.

Hawke's Bay beat Waikato twice in 2007 – proving too good with a 30-26 win in round-robin play, a result which meant Waikato had to return there for the quarter-finals and Hawke's Bay edged them 38-35 in a thriller.

That was before going down to Auckland in the semi-finals, but coach Peter Russell has sent out a warning to this year's play-off contenders that the Magpies have been a much stronger team this season.

“We've used last year's success to build on this year,” he said.

“We have maintained our momentum and worked on a lot of stuff we didn't do so well last year, like ball retention inside the opposition's 22 when we have to put teams away.

“We're now being patient with it and not rushing.

“Should we make the last four, we going to make sure we go all the way this time round.”

The Magpies certainly won't fear Waikato for this rematch, despite the presence of a few All Blacks in the Mooloo ranks.

“I'm confident in my players to handle whoever Waikato throw at us – be it All Blacks or not,” said Russell.