Well, we are here. After months of planning and preparing we are finally about to kick-off the 2008 Air New Zealand Cup. Both the Canterbury players and management have long been looking forward to this date and now, only days away, we are fizzing at the prospect.

I have been reasonably happy with our individual and collective performances in our pre-season matches. Against Southland I thought we did a lot of things right, although some of our individual skill-sets let us down in places. Our defence was strong, while our attack was reasonably efficient without being exceptional. It was certainly a step up from the Tasman performance.

I was particularly impressed with our front row against Southland.  They are young guys with less than a handful of Air New Zealand Cup games between them and yet they all played very well and they scrummed especially well.

I was also delighted with the way that Michael Paterson and Hayden Hopgood performed, while in the backs I thought Colin Slade and Ryan Crotty played really well.

The Wellington match was difficult in some respects. Our performance in the first half was pleasing, although the conditions in the second half made it a bit of a lottery. We made a couple of defensive lapses and they scored. We will work on correcting those this week and we will improve.

Of course now the real test begins. We are under no illusions about how tough Manawatu is going to be. They are a fast-improving side that has plenty to play for and they will be far from easy. Although we beat them last season, they will be much better for having another season of Air New Zealand Cup rugby under their belts.

I haven’t seen much of their rugby on tape, but I know that they will have a strong midfield and that their forward pack will be industrious. They obviously improved significantly last season; proof of which being the fact that they won two of their competition games and drew with Otago. It was a step up on their results from previous seasons and I have no doubt that they will continue to improve this year.

This will be a pretty normal week for us. We will train Monday and Tuesday, have Wednesday off and then train again on Thursday and Friday. We will be looking to refine and develop what we have been working on and making sure that we are as ready as we can be ahead of Saturday.

We have a number of injuries that we are managing. Obviously Casey Laulala is out until early October, while Corey Flynn will be unavailable until the end of August or the start of September. Steve Brett has a quad injury, while both Isaac Ross and Michael Paterson have head injuries. Sean Maitland is also on the injured list.

The team that is chosen to play Manawatu will be the side that we think will be best-equipped to do the job for us. Whatever side is chosen will do the province proud and will hopefully ensure that we get our campaign off to a good start.

The side that turns out on Saturday would very much appreciate your support. I can’t underestimate how important the support of the province is to the players and as a former player myself, I simply loved running out and hearing the cheer of the home crowd.  There is nothing quite like it and I know that if we are going to have a successful season this year then the support of the rugby public in Canterbury will be vital. I urge you to get along and support this very talented crop of players.

Along with a good performance on Saturday, all I am asking for is some dry weather! Like all of you no doubt, I am sick of watching rugby in the rain and cold! It is a winter sport sure enough, but some clear days would be brilliant!

Rob Penney