Under 85kg Restricted Grading games this weekend

Above: Action from last year’s U85kg Restricted championship final between the MSP Blues and the Tawa Titans. The Blues have gone into hiatus this season, opening the door for a new champion to emerge from the pack.

UPDATED: Easter weekend rugby kicks off tomorrow with the return of the ever-popular Under 85kg Restricted grade, starting with a grading Gala day at Ian Galloway Park.
?
While grade numbers have slid from the high of 20 teams a few seasons ago, 17 of the 18 sides that entered last year have returned. 14 of those will be on show on Friday in four grading matches, with the OBU Bunnies and Avalon having played their match at Te Whaea on Wednesday night, and the Poneke Cavs having the weekend off.
?
However, it is the one side that is absent this year and what that means for the competition that has generated the intrigue.

The five-time champions Marist St Pat’s Blues side has gone into hiatus for 2015. MSP Blues coach and 2014 WRFU Club Coach of the Year Andrew Robinson confirmed to Club Rugby this week that two members of last year’s side have retired due to injury and another 14 have left Wellington with the majority of those players in the UK.

The MSP Blues won all their 19 competition matches in 2014, scoring 665 points and conceding 112, so this opens the door for several teams to stake their claim. The Tawa Titans, runners up in both the first-round JC Bowl and championship Paul Potiki Shield competitions last year and the only side to beat the Blues in recent seasons, shape as the likely favourites by default.

Other sides that will fancy their chances include the Poneke Cavs, who are establishing themselves as worthy successors to last decade’s Dogs of War side, and the Kapiti side – last year’s Waikanae side now operating under the regional banner. Eastbourne, last year’s Division 2 winners Wellington, and runners-up MSP Red and also MSP Green – who have both inherited some players from the Blues – all shape as potential dark horses.
?
The first round competition structure will be determined after the grading round.

?