Big afternoon in lower grades tomorrow

Above: The Wainuiomata Colts side earlier this season. Tomorrow they head to Ngatitoa Domain to play Paremata-Plimmerton in one Colts Division 2 semi-final, while Petone and Avalon meet in the other.

While the club rugby focus in Wellington for the weekend will inevitably fall on the Premier playoffs, there’s still plenty happening elsewhere. In many of the lower club grades it’s either playoff time, or the last round of matches before the playoffs where there’s still much to be decided. College rugby resumes after the holiday break as well, with several grades – including the Premiership – at the quarter-final stage and the rest closing in on their playoffs.

Premier Reserve Ed Chaney and HD Morgan Cups

The second-tier still has two weeks to go before they reach the playoffs, but this weekend’s round still shapes as a critical set of games.
 
The Upper Hutt Rams have assumed the lead of the Ed Chaney Cup division and they can claim home field advantage throughout the playoffs as early as this week if they were to beat Avalon at home at Maidstone in a crossover match. However the Wolves have found form in recent weeks and are now joint-leaders (with Wainuiomata) in the HD Morgan group. Petone and Poneke will battle it out at the Petone Rec for who will take second-place going into the last round, while Tawa and Norths clash in the early game at Lyndhurst with both sides likely needing to win to stay in contention. Hutt Old Boys Marist will likewise look to improve their chances when they take on Wellington at Hataitai in a crossover match.
 
In the two matches between HD Morgan sides Wainuiomata, who like Avalon are already certain semi-finalists, take on Paremata-Plimmerton at William Jones, while Oriental-Rongotai are scheduled to face Johnsonville, who defaulted last weekend, at the Polo Ground.
 
All six Premier Reserve matches are 12.30pm kick-offs again this week.  

Colts Division 1 John E Kelly Memorial

 Three of the four semi-finalists in the Colts grade have already been found. Old Boys-University Green (36) and Tawa (35) are already assured of finishing in the top two and will host semi-finals next weekend, while Marist St Pats (29) will be the visitors to one of them.
 
The fourth side will be either the Upper Hutt Rams (26) or Poneke (21), though each has very contrasting assignments tomorrow. The Rams only need a single competition point to advance but are taking on the leading Goats away at Nairnville, while Poneke are away to winless Hutt Old Boys Marist where they need a bonus point win. Should the two end up tied on 26 competition points then Poneke would progress by virtue of their 27-26 win when the sides last met six weeks ago.
 
Oriental-Rongotai can also reach 26 points if they take a bonus point win over Johnsonville at the Polo Ground, but having lost to both the Rams and Poneke in this round they are already eliminated from contention. Tawa and Marist St Pats meet at Redwood where it’s entirely possible that they will face each other again next week, and Wellington and Norths will conclude their seasons when they face each other at Kilbirnie Park.
 
All Division 1 Colts games are at 12.30pm.

Colts Division 2 Vic Calcinai Memorial Cup

In the Division 2 Vic Calcinai Memorial Cup it’s the semi-finals round. Top qualifiers Petone are at home to Avalon on the Rec at 2.15pm, while at 12.30pm Paremata-Plimmerton hosts Wainuiomata at Ngatitoa Domain.

The Wainuiomata Colts side are eager to make the final. They are facing Paramata-Plimmerton for the third time this regular season and have beaten them twice home and away this season. Although their closest game all year was their last-gasp 31-30 win over Paremata-Plimmerton in one of these wns.

After 13 games they’ve won 9 and lost 4, scoring 382 points and conceding 243. The most points they scored in a game was 83, against MSP. Their top try-scorer is Carlos Hadfield with 7 tries followed closely by Josh Sa'u on 6. Captain Justin Wilson is the top points scorer with 125.

Coaches Sven Johnson and Jason Gibb have been join by experienced Willie Gemmell to help coach the team. Sven and Jason have coached the team for the past three seasons winning one title, playing in three finals and earning promotion in division 1 last season. Two players, Justin Wilson and Caleb Nicholas have had a taste of premier rugby this season.

Under 85kg Paul Potiki Shield

The top lightweight grade has the same look to it as the Jubilee Cup did last weekend. Tawa’s win by default over the Upper Hutt Rams combined with Wellington’s loss and Johnsonville’s draw took them six points clear and guaranteed them home advantage for the playoffs even with having the bye this week.
 
Behind them though there’s a real scramble for the remaining three places with no fewer than five teams – Johnsonville, Wellington, Eastbourne, Poneke, and Avalon – all in the mix.
 
Wellington (23) would seem to have the inside running for second as they take on bottom side the Upper Hutt Rams at Hataitai, where a bonus point win will secure that for them. Johnsonville (23) and Eastbourne (20) – who drew last weekend - can also secure playoffs footy with wins, but the Hawks have a tricky one at home against Avalon (19) with the Wolves looking to force their way in, while Eastbourne visit the OBU Bunnies at Nairnville for their East-West Cup. The Bunnies can’t make the playoffs but could take Eastbourne out of them, with Matt Hall-Smith playing his 100th match for the side.
 
Poneke (19) kept themselves in the hunt by beating Wellington last weekend; but unlike Avalon they take on a side outside of the mix when they head up the coast to take on the Kapiti side in Paraparaumu. Their fate could conceivably range from making the semi-finals with just a win, to taking a bonus-point victory and still missing out. This game is at 12.30pm, with the rest at 2.15pm.

First Grade Johnsonville Centennium Cup

The playoff picture is a lot clearer in the third tier. The Petone Brotherhood (40 points) wrapped up their round-robin campaign having already secured top spot and will be able to rest up with the bye. Old Boys-University (26), Norths (25), and Hutt Old Boys Marist (21) are already certain to be other semi-finalists but the order will only be determined after this weekend and all three face teams currently outside the playoffs. OBU lead Norths by a point (largely due to the latter’s six-point deduction) and they take on Avalon at Fraser Park where a bonus-point win will secure second place.
 
Norths need OBU to slip up some, but likely need a bonus-point win of their own away on the Petone Rec against the Petone Saxons to be chance of leapfrogging the Goats, while HOBM need one or both of the other two to slip up to improve their position when they host Marist St Pats in the early game at the Hutt Rec. The remaining clash has no impact on the playoff picture when Tawa and Poneke meet at Redwood to end their seasons.

WelTec College Premiership and Premier 2

The Premiership reaches the quarter-final stage this weekend. At stake for the four sides is not only keeping their seasons alive, but also a place for next year’s squad in both the Premiership and the preseason Tranzit Festival. Scots College finished the round-robin phase in third and they will host Wairarapa College – who they beat 38-7 four weeks ago – in one match, while Silverstream, coming off their thumping win over Town in their Traditional clash on Wednesday, will look to reverse the earlier 14-20 defeat at the hands of Rongotai when they meet once again on Silverstream’s #1 ground.
 
Top qualifiers Wellington College and St Pat’s Town have an automatic bye to the semi-finals where they await the winners of these two matches (and in the case of the latter to lick their wounds), while Bishop Viard and St Bernard’s will meet in the 7th/8th playoff match. However for these two, and the losing quarter-finalists, their seasons don’t end this weekend as they will have at least one more match in the Plate section of the Premiership.
 
In Premier 2 joint-leaders Paraparaumu and Kapiti both face mid-table opposition in the penultimate round of matches; Paraparaumu are at home against Porirua, while Kapiti head the other way to take on Aotea. Tawa, who are a point back in third, have an away game against the Silverstream 2nd XV, while fourth-placed Wainuiomata will look to put some space between them and the pack behind when they host Taita. All games are at 2.30pm, bar the Wainuiomata vs Taita game which is a 1pm start.
 
The fifth Premier 2 is tonight with the St Pats Town 2nd XV hosting winless Hutt International under lights on the school artificial at 7.30pm.