Several teams jostling for playoff positons in big last round

Above: The Wellington and Ories packs battle it out last week. The Axemen are out to finish their season on a high against Hutt Old Boys Marist, whilst Ories will be hoping to clinch a home semi-final when they meet OBU at the Basin Reserve.

For six Premier sides, plus the two B sides promoted to contest the Hardham Cup, tomorrow is their 18th and final match of a season that began back on March 21 at Trentham Memorial Park.

While seven of those sides know their fate, the last will be determined from the Hardham Cup contests. Six sides already know that they will be playing for at least another week in the Premier grades, but those matches are yet to be known, as are those in the Premier Women’s competition.

Jubilee Cup

While the top four has been decided, the who-plays-who next weekend in the semi-finals has not. That will be determined from the outcomes of tomorrow’s matches.

Old Boys-University host Oriental-Rongotai at the Basin Reserve, knowing that they cannot be headed off for a top spot and with it the Andy Leslie Trophy, and will return there next week. Goats coach Jeremy Little has chosen to keep the momentum going and has named a full strength side with the return of Augustin Escalona at lock the only change and including Hamish Buick who played for Horowhenua-Kapiti in last night’s Ranfurly Shield challenge.

Ories could have put themselves in a strong position to host the other semi-final, but their stumble last week against Wellington means that they will be on the road next weekend unless they win here and MSP beat Tawa as well, and Ories at least matches MSP’s total of competition points as they hold the tiebreaker between the two. They seem to have chosen to rest and experiment this week, with captain Whetu Henry and hooker Hunter Prescott both absent from a starting pack that has several personnel and positional switches, with those themes repeated in the backline where only Aukuso Tuitama starts in the same jersey as last Saturday. The sides met at the Polo Ground back in round three of the Swindale, with the Magpies prevailing by 38-27.

The other game of interest is through the Mt Victoria tunnel at Evans Bay, where Tawa visit Marist St Pat’s. Despite their loss to OBU last weekend a Tawa victory in this one will see them host the second semi-final at Lyndhurst next weekend irrespective of the result at the Basin, while MSP put paid to not only Petone’s hopes last weekend, but also those of Wainuiomata and Wellington despite those latter sides both winning, and they will host next weekend if they win and Ories lose, or if they both win but MSP gets a bonus point while Ories don’t. That’s owing to Ories’ 34-6 win over MSP in the first round of the Jubilee Cup six weeks ago. MSP have made a handful of changes with Nick Harrison back at lock, Josh To’omaga at 6, and a new midfield of Ben Feheko and Ryan Setefano, while neither Pati Gaualofa nor Telea Seumanutafa will start for Tawa and TJ Fermanis switches back to openside where he’ll battle MSP counterpart Isaac O’Connor. When the two sides met earlier in the year at Lyndhurst Tawa prevailed by 32-27, keeping their-then unbeaten record intact.

For the other four sides, Saturday will represent the end of their season. Petone host Wainuiomata with the visitors making the journey over the hill to the Petone Rec, while on the other side of the Hutt River Hutt Old Boys Marist finish up against Wellington on the Hutt Rec. 2015 will be the fifth straight year in which the Villagers have missed the semi-final places, though will win three matches in the Cup round for the first time since 2010 if they prevail. For Wainuiomata and HOBM their hopes of a return to the final were on shaky ground for some time and will reflect on this stage of the season as disappointing, while for the Axemen even making it back to the main stage has been a huge step in the clubs revival. All four sides will be looking to end on a high note; Petone, with prop Tyral Vigne playing his 100th Premier match, will want to atone for their 11-20 Swindale defeat to Wainuiomata, while Wellington will be looking to finish the job this time, after HOBM pipped them 37-36 way back on the opening day of the season at Trentham.

Premier 2 Hardham Cup

The top two in the Hardham Cup have been sorted, with Johnsonville and the Upper Hutt Rams hosting next weekend semi-finals regardless of tomorrow’s results. The race is on for who the two visiting sides will be, with three sides in contention.

In that respect, the major clash of the day is at Jerry Collins Stadium (aka Porirua Park) where Norths (17) host Avalon (19). A win for either side will assure them a place in next weekend’s contests, while the side that’s trailing on the scoreboard will be checking in on events at Kilbirnie Park where Poneke (16) face Tawa B. By Norths standards this season it’s a fairly unchanged lineup with only two changes in personnel; Pasifika Ieremia comes into the front row while Konelio Feaunati returns in midfield with Jackson Garden-Bachop switching to fullback, while Avalon make only two changes with Shannon Bradbrook returning at 10 with Cameron Cross moving into halfback and Finauga Segi back in at lock. The two sides last met in the concluding round of the Swindale Shield, where Norths escaped Fraser Park with a narrow 33-31 win.

If Poneke want to control as much of their own fate as possible, they need a bonus-point win over Tawa B. While they have managed to do that in their last two outings, they almost let their season slip when Norths all but got past them last Saturday but having survived that they will back themselves to win and win well tomorrow. Tawa B may be unable to reach the semi-finals themselves, but an upset win here will very likely torpedo Poneke’s chances.

If Norths and Poneke finish tied on points, Poneke hold the tiebreaker based on their win last weekend, while if Avalon and Poneke finish tied it is Avalon who hold that tiebreaker. It is also possible for all three sides to finish tied on 21 points, in which case it will fall to point’s difference as no side would have beaten both of the other two.

The remaining matches pit the top two against the bottom two, with Johnsonville hosting Paremata-Plimmerton at Helston in Johnsonville flanker Louis Karl’s 100th match, while the Upper Hutt Rams make the trip to face Petone B in the early contest at the Petone Rec. Wins for both the top two will mean the order at the top will remain unchanged.

Premier Reserve Ed Chaney & HD Morgan Cups

The Premier Reserve schedule has a pair of crossover matches and two more each between Ed Chaney and HD Morgan Cup sides respectively. The clash of the day is one of those crossover games where unbeaten OBU host one-loss Ories at Nairnville, while the other crossover encounter is at Kilbirnie Park where Poneke, who have slipped to third in the Chaney division after two successive losses, take on the Upper Hutt Rams who sit second in HD Morgan competition. The two contests between Ed Chaney sides have Norths hosting MSP at Porirua and HOBM taking on Wellington, while the HD Morgan matches have Avalon facing Wainuiomata on the Fraser Park artificial and Johnsonville and winless Paremata-Plimmerton clashing at Helston Park.

Premier Victoria Tavern Trophy and Senior Women’s

Oriental-Rongotai’s victory over Norths last weekend put them into top spot and they will secure that if they beat OBU at Te Whaea in the final round. If OBU were to prevail (and Norths beat Avalon), then it’s likely that bonus points or points difference will be needed to determine who would host the semi-final next week, which in that case would be between these two sides.

The loss was Norths’ first for the season, despite outscoring Ories five tries to four with Leah Conley notching a hat-trick it was Lizzie Goulden’s boot that proved the difference. They take on Avalon at Porirua Park and a win will secure them a home semifinal, though an upset loss could see them heading on the road next week. Avalon cannot improve on fourth place irrespective of results and will play away to the top qualifier next week.

HOBM, who were eliminated last weekend, have the bye.

In the penultimate round of the Senior grade leaders Wainuiomata take on Poneke at William Jones, while Johnsonville and Tawa meet at Newlands Park.

All Women’s matches kickoff at 11.30am

Other grades

After last week’s weather-induced abandonment, the Colts Paris Memorial Trophy resumes. With current leaders Norths having the bye, the opportunity exists for OBU Green to pass them at the top of the table if they beat Petone at the Rec tomorrow, while the third-placed Upper Hutt Rams – who’s only losses have been to the top two – could also close the gap when they host midtable Tawa. The other top four side is HOBM, who take on Wellington on the Hutt Rec, and the other three matches have Poneke visiting Johnsonville at Newlands Park, MSP and Ories clashing at Evans Bay, Wainuiomata and Paremata-Plimmerton meet at William Jones, and winless sides OBU Black and Avalon clash at Prince of Wales. All seven Colts matches are 1pm kickoffs.

The First Grade Johnsonville Centennium Cup hits its fifth week. The only 1pm kickoff is on the St Pats artificial with MSP Avele hosting Stokes Valley. The two unbeaten sides are both in action at 2.45pm, with leaders the Petone Brotherhood at home against MSP ‘A’, while second-placed OBU take on Poneke at Kilbirnie. The other two matches have Norths taking on the Petone Saxons at Porirua Park and Tawa are scheduled to host the HOBM Barbarians at Lyndhurst, but with Tawa having defaulted the past three weeks their continued place in the competition will be in doubt.

It’s also round five of the Under 85kg Division 1 Paul Potiki Shield and the round is highlighted by the 1pm clash at Lyndhurst Park between two of the unbeaten sides, the JC Bowl winning Tawa Titans and current leaders the OBU Bunnies. The third unbeaten side so far - the Poneke Cav’s - are at home against Johnsonville also at 1pm while there are 2.45pm kickoffs at Fraser Park between Avalon and Wellington and at HW Shortt where Eastbourne hosts HOBM. There’s also a top-of-the table clash in Division 2 with unbeaten sides Stokes Valley and Wests clashing at Delaney Park at 2.45pm.

The Reserve Grade competition has also been split following the conclusion of the incomplete round-robin. The two sides that finished unbeaten in that phase, with their scheduled meeting in the round that was cancelled - the Poneke Ruffnuts and the Upper Hutt J8’s - headline the opening round of Division 1 contests.

Weltec College

There is one Premiership match scheduled for tomorrow as last year’s two Premier 2 finalists, Tawa and Wairarapa, square off at Tawa College at 1pm for the remaining place in the playoffs. Wairarapa hold that 6th place at present and will progress if they win or draw, while Tawa must win and deny their opponents bonus points. The side that progresses will likely face the loser of the last remaining match in the round-robin, Wednesday’s St Pats Traditional between Silverstream and Town.

For Silverstream and Town the incentive is to join Scots in having the following Saturday off and Silverstream will need only a point from their match to assure that, though Town could take that spot with a win and preventing Silverstream from securing the single point. That match is a 1.40pm kickoff and will be televised on Sky.