Jubilee Semi Finals!

Petone v Poneke

A buoyant Poneke will travel to the Petone Recreation Ground this Sunday to contest an eagerly anticipated Jubilee Cup semi-final. After an unspectacular Swindale Shield, where they finished sixth, the 2003 Cup champions have stormed into contention in recent weeks. Emphatic wins over Marist St. Pats (27-22), Upper Hutt (22-12) and Western Suburbs (36-14) in the last three rounds propelled them into third.

But if Poneke wants to contest their sixth final in seven years they will have to overcome a confident Petone, who also got stronger as the season progressed. Finishing the Swindale round just above Poneke in fifth, the Villagers have been a dangerous proposition in the Cup rounds. Their only two losses were narrow defeats to Upper Hutt (18-21) and to Northern United (15-16). Honours have been shared in the two previous games between these teams this year; with Poneke winning 35-13 in their round two Swindale clash and Petone winning 24-7 in round one of the Cup.

Expect a torrid, keenly contested game between two well-oiled packs. Both Petone and Poneke are powerful up-front, and whoever can establish engine room ascendancy will control the tempo of the game. The Poneke front row of Misiluni Moananu, Eugene Morgan and Kwain Anelua will face off against Hoani Tui, Eugene Smith and Thomas Tupuivao in this vital area.

For Poneke, their loose forwards, blindside flanker Shane Cottrell, openside flanker Maseafou Leuluniu and No. 8 Laki Vitale, are sure to feature. The trio complement each other well, with the in-form Cottrell valuable as a lineout asset and the abrasive Vitale and cavalier Leuluniu both strong ball runners. Petone will be looking to unleash their lethal outside backs, notably wings Willie Moala (9 tries) and Alex Telea (8 tries), and if the game opens up then Petone are sure to prosper. But with leading try scorer Evan Belford (10) on their flanks the red-and-blacks will have other ideas. Steven White



Northern United v Upper Hutt

Upper Hutt have had a tremendous season in 2005. They won their first ten games to capture the Swindale Shield with a round to spare and it would cap off a memorable season if they could capture next Sunday?s final at Westpac Stadium. Last time they made the Jubilee Cup final was in 1989, when they went down to Petone. But first they must overcome a Norths team who are running hot. Top qualifiers and defending champions Norths went through the round-robin unbeaten, and at home at Porirua Park deserve to be favourites for this semi-final.

Upper Hutt have gone off the boil of late, losing their last two games to Poneke (22-12) and to Marist St. Pats (25-17) and almost missing out on the playoffs to fifth placed MSP. In contrast, Norths have scored ten tries in their last two outings against MSP (34-10) and Avalon (37-17).

However if the previous two clashes between these sides is anything to go by then this game is set to go down to the wire. In round five of the Swindale Shield Upper Hutt held on to a 10-5 halftime lead to win at Maidstone Park. The tables were turned four weeks ago at Porirua Park when it was Norths that withstood a late Upper Hutt comeback to win 10-8, with Upper Hutt unsuccessful with a late conversion which would have locked it up to 10-10.

Both Norths and Upper Hutt possess a clutch of gamebreakers in their ranks, but with defences expected to be as watertight as in these two earlier games, backline combinations could hold the key to victory. Look out for Norths? halfback?first five-eighth combination of Lua Vaoloaloa and Rob Aloe to threaten. Vaoloaloa is as dangerous in broken play as any loose forward, while Aloe?s vision has created many tries this season. Upper Hutt?s midfield of Ollie O?Leary and Brad Baker will test Norths, with centre Baker scoring eight tries this year.