Tasman: not the team they were last year

Tasman concede they're not the team they were last year when they won their first national provincial rugby title.

Tasman take on top qualifiers and favourites Auckland in the Mitre 10 Cup premiership final at Eden Park.

Meanwhile Hawke's Bay and Northland meet in the Championship with promotion up for grabs, however promotion may not actually happen with the structure of the provincial competition under review.

Tasman have been one of the dominant teams in recent years.

After being promoted to the Premiership in 2013, Tasman have made the play-offs every year since and twice made the final before lifting the trophy in 2019.

They were again expected to dominant the competition this year, but needed a win in the last round to confirm their place in the play-offs.

Tasman assistant coach Gray Cornelius says they're without eight players that helped them to the title last year.

"We're not last years team, we were fortunate last year with the calibre of player we had and when you look at the team we're putting out on the park on Saturday, we're quite a different team"

"So we haven't dwelt too much on last year, it's more about this group performing to their ability this year."

After many years in the wilderness, Auckland have become a force in recent years under coach Alama Ieremia.

They won the title in 2018 and are favourites this weekend.

There should be plenty of support for Auckland with entry free for fans to Eden Park tomorrow.

Prop Marcel Renata brought up his 50th game for the province in last weekend's semi-finals and he says taking the Premiership title off the defending champions would be the icing on the cake of his milestone season.

"A great time for not only myself but also my family as well, I come from a working class group through mum and dad so it's awesome to see smiles on their faces and how proud they are."

"It's a good game on and off the field this rugby gig, so yeh I'm proud."

While it's always nice to be playing at home Tasman assistant coach Gray Cornelius admits playing in Auckland is probably the next best thing.

"What better place to have it at Eden Park, the home of New Zealand rugby, so we're really excited to go up their on the big stage and put our best foot forward."

Ranfurly Shield holders Hawke's Bay host Northland in the Championship final Friday night.

Northland have never won a national provincial title, but have produced some of the legends of the game over the years including Peter Jones, Joe Morgan, Ian Jones, the Goings, Dunns and Woodmans and in recent years Norm Berryman, Rene Ranger and Jack Goodhue have all proudly pulled on the Cambridge Blue.

First five Dan Hawkins has been with Northland since 2013 and says success would be great for the province which has had a few tough years.

"I guess we've had the good, the bad and the ugly at times, we've had a few tough seasons and a few good ones, but this is the best one I've been involved in, not just for us but also for the province as the supporters stick with us through thick and thin and then the past players there have been a lot of legends that have come through Northland."

Hawkes Bay are favourites for the game, but even with a win they might not actually realise the dream of playing in the Premiership.

There is the possibility that New Zealand Rugby will change the format of the national competition next year.

To save money they are considering moving to North and South conferences, similar to the way the Farah Palmer Cup was played this year.

Magpies lock Tom Parsons says at this stage their concern is winning and they'll think about what lies ahead after that.

"We've heard rumours about some things, so yeh things could bit a little different but what will be will be"

"I think we've shown this year that everyone is pretty good at adapting to what goes on with Covid so it'll be interesting to see what comes of that, but our focus at the moment is just getting the job done on Friday night.

The Championship final between Hawke's Bay and Northland is in Napier at 7:05pm Friday, while the Premiership final between Auckland and Tasman is at 6:35pm Saturday at Eden Park.