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Ardmore Marist Women go into their Premier semi-final against Auckland Marist on Saturday knowing they have what it takes to win a big game.

They need only to look back seven days when they tipped over the defending champions on their own home patch in a winner-takes-all contest.

Ardmore Marist beat Manurewa against the odds to book their spot in the final and now they need to beat the competition favourites this week to play off for the trophy.

The club’s Rugby Development Officer Hamish Fraser said last week’s victory is certainly providing motivation for this week.

“It was massive – it was a performance that you look and think that it all clicked,” Fraser said.

“Against the other top sides we probably haven’t quite put in our best performance but that was one that we were able to deliver on when it counted most.

“One hundred percent [it gives them confidence] – all of our ladies know they have some talent within the group but there have been a lot of changes this year with injury and unavailability.

“We know that when we are at our best we can compete.”

Auckland Marist have lost just once so far in 2022 and will have named a very competitive side for the knock-out match.

“It is as strong as it possibly could be, which is what you want at this time of year,” Fraser said. “You don’t want to beat a team because they weren’t at full strength, you want to rise to the challenge.

“We rattled them when we played them earlier this year and put them under pressure.”

Fraser said they have worked on a specific plan to try and combat their opposition, but the fundamentals of rugby rarely change.

“We have to be on our game and we have to starve them of possession like in any game of rugby. “Then we need to be up in their face and cut down their time with the ball.”

The game kicks off at 1pm at Mt Wellington War Memorial Park.