Looking at the week ahead

A blockbuster day and night of rugby in Wellington this coming Saturday starts early afternoon with the seventh and final round of Premier Bucqui and Premier 2 Hardham Cups.

For seven out of eight clubs that have yet to qualify for the Jubilee Cup semi-finals and still all mathematically can, their seasons are on the line this weekend, while the Hardham Cup playoff picture is clearer but there’s still much to play with home semi-finals spots and one top four berth up for grabs.

Kick-off times for afternoon games have been brought forward to 12.30pm and 2.15pm respectively with the Hurricanes hosting the Sharks in their Investec Super Rugby playoff match at Westpac Stadium at 7.35pm.

The race to the semi-finals could scarcely be any tighter in the Jubilee Cup.

If two teams finish the round-robin tied on the same points the semi-final tiebreaker is whom beat whom. If three or more teams are tied then this is a circular tie and it will come back to points differential.

That said, the current standings in order of semi-final qualifications are: MSP 21, Ories 17, Poneke 17, Tawa 15, OBU 15, Wainuiomata 15, Upper Hutt Rams 12, Wellington 11.

Marist St Pat’s are the only to team to have qualified, and they host the Wellington Axemen at Evans Bay Park and put the Bill Brien Challenge Shield on the line. MSP just needs 2 competition points to qualify top for the semi-finals and win the Andy Leslie Trophy regardless of what transpires elsewhere. Wellington must win with a bonus point and hope for other teams above to draw.

Oriental-Rongotai hosts defending champions Old Boys University at the Polo Ground in a virtual quarter-final, as does Wainuiomata and Poneke at William Jones Park.

Tawa can harbour hopes of a home semi-final when they meet the Upper Hutt Rams at Maidstone Park, while the Rams can win and sneak in to the top four if the cards fall in their favour.

In the Hardham Cup, Paremata-Plimmerton Got up to occupy the fourth placed position behind the three confirmed qualifiers, Hutt Old Boys Marist, Northern United and Petone, with one round to play this week.

The Hardham Cup standings with one round to play are: HOBM 29, Norths 26, Petone 25, Paremata-Plimmerton 13, Avalon 11, Johnsonville and MSP B on 9 and OBU B on 6.

Paremata-Plimmerton can beat MSP B this coming weekend and seal fourth, but should they lose and Avalon defeats OBU then Avalon will take their place.

Paremata-Plimmerton and Avalon can both lose and Johnsonville can beat HOBM with a bonus point at the Hutt Rec and MSP B can beat Paremata-Plimmerton with a bonus point and either Johnsonville or MSP B can sneak in.

HOBM just need a point against Johnsonville to secure top spot, while Northern United and Petone meet in a virtual last round qualifier to decide the second home team qualifier for the playoffs.

The other grades are all heading towards exciting conclusions to their round-robin seasons, with two rounds to play in the Colts, Premier Reserve and First Grade competitions before the semi-finals.

Second equal Petone and Norths meet in a crucial Premier Reserve Ed Chaney Cup match, with the winner in line to grab top spot if new leaders the Upper Hutt Rams miss out to Tawa at Maidstone Park.

Front runners Old Boys University can book a home semi-final with a round to spare if they beat mid-table Northern United, who will be desperate or their season will be over. Second placed Tawa and third placed MSP will also be eyeing up safe passage into the Colts semi-finals, but face tough battles against Poneke and Wellington respectivley.

The Tawa Titans will want to defeat the winless Upper Hutt Rams and maintan their place at the top of the table in the U85kg Restricted grade. With a game in hand, they can overtaken at the end by Wellington and Johnsnonville should those sides win this weekend.

It's another weekend off for college rugby, with matches resuming next week.