20 Oct 2008

Wellington out to end finals hoodoo

9:00 am on 20 October 2008

The top two will square off in the final of the Air NZ Cup provincial rugby championship this weekend with both Wellington and Canterbury out to end a bit of a drought.

One of the key individuals for Canterbury will be their rookie first five Colin Slade who started the season number three behind the injured Steven Brett and Hamish Gard.

But he's gone from strength to strength, and impressed coach Rob Penney again in Saturday night's semi-final against Hawkes Bay.

Penney says Slade's a multi-faced first-five with massive future as he's a strong runner, has a good kicking game and defends well, too.

It'll be Wellington's fifth final in six years with the previous four all ending in defeat.