Upper Hutt v Wests: Semi-Final

It will be an optimistic Upper Hutt who host Western Suburbs at Maidstone Park in their semi-final, after a convincing 35-12 win over competition high flyers Wainuiomata last week saw them grab the top qualifier spot for the playoffs. Aside from their losses to Johnsonville and Oriental-Rongotai, Upper Hutt have had a generally successful Hardham Cup round-robin campaign. Their five wins were all by 20-plus point margins, and while they have included three easy 50-point wins against the three B teams, their road to the playoffs has been more assured than Wests’.

It’s been a tough last few weeks for Wests, only averting relegation from premier rugby next year by the narrowest of margins. Last week they beat Ories with four penalties, which saw them finish fourth equal with Johnsonville - only surviving by virtue of their 27-26 win against Johnsonville in round one. Relegation would have been a cruel fate for them though, as they finished the round-robin with just one loss, and alongside Wainuiomata with five wins and a draw.

For all that though, it hasn’t been a vintage 2006 for Wests, with injuries and player movement in key positions, including losing their best player Jack Tarrant to Japan midseason, contributing to a poor attacking record. Despite striking two of the three B teams on the two worst Saturday’s of the year, the win against Johnsonville was their only bonus point win of their five victories. They will need to find the tryline against Upper Hutt, who turned around a 3-5 loss to Wests earlier in the season to beat them comfortably 36-10 a few weeks ago.

Upper Hutt also have the season leading points scorer, first five-eighth Ben Aoina, with 210 points, as well as the leading try scorer of the eight playoff teams, centre Ollie O’Leary (10 tries), utility back Nua Fono (7 tries) and New Zealand U21 halfback Alby Mathewson (6 tries) in their backs.