Women?s, Senior 1 and Senior 2 club rugby finals on Saturday

Finals football continues around the club rugby fields of Wellington on Saturday, with the Victoria Tavern Trophy Women's, Ed Chaney Cup Senior 1 and HD Morgan Memorial Cup Senior 2 finals being played.

It's another busy weekend with most of the remaining grades in either finals or semi-finals action, and the Under 85s in their final round of the season.

Women's Victoria Tavern Trophy final

Northern United v Oriental-Rongotai, Porirua Park 11.30 am.

Porirua Park will again be the setting for the Women's final, with a repeat of last year's final between home side Norths and challengers Oriental-Rongotai. Norths eased into the decider with a 36-3 win over Old Boys-University, while Ories were made to work harder by a resolute Wainuiomata side before prevailing 16-8.

The two sides have split their two meetings this year; Ories won their first round matchup 26-24 way back in April en route to claiming the Fleurs Trophy, while Norths turned the tables 22-6 six weeks ago. The only other loss suffered by either side in local competition this season was by Norths when they went down to Wainuiomata three weeks ago.

Both sides will have a number of players named in the Wellington Pride squad on show. Ories have plenty of young talent, with lock Joanah Ngan-Woo, first-five Kauna Lopa and midfielder Mikayla Figiola all only just out of school, while utility back Timena Tuma'ai (daughter of long-time Ories player Fa'avae Tuma'ai) and flanker Alicia Print are still at school. Jane Bryce, who has notched 24 tries this season, is another of the schoolgirl contingent but will be absent after seriously injuring her ankle in the semi-final. Much of their chances will hinge on the direction given by Lizzie Goulden and the work of centre Amanda Rasch and openside Kirsty Stewart.

Though without Sanita Levave and Brenda and Helen Collins Norths will look to assert dominance up front where Patsy Schwalger and Moana Aiatu have a wealth of experience, while openside Sharna Burt will relish the battle at the breakdown. In the back division their major threats are fullback Jamie McIntosh and first-five Vaine Marsters, who between them have scored 19 tries in just the second round of matches alone.

Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup final

Petone v Poneke, Petone Recreation Ground, 2.30 pm

The venue for the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup will be the Petone Rec, where the home side takes on Poneke at 2.30 pm. Petone finished the round-robin on top of the standings and won on the same ground 26-20 over HOBM last weekend. That came on the back of a mid-table finish in the Harper Lock Shield where they were only a result or two away from making the Hardham Cup. They also boast the best defensive record in the grade, conceding fewer than 10 points per game on average.

For the second time in three years one of the finalists didn't even start the year in Senior 1. Poneke were actually relegated at the end of 2013, but rebounded to win the first round Senior 2 National Mutual Cup and promotion back into this competition. They started by winning seven straight games before dropping their last two and then put aside the issue of a ground change to account for Tawa 34-3 in their semi-final in a clinical, swift performance on attack. A win will see them emulate the feat of the 2012 Wellington Axemen in claiming both titles, and they won the meeting between the two sides 24-7 earlier in the campaign.

Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Cup final

Hutt Old Boys Marist Barbarians v Old Boys University, Hutt Recreation Ground 2.30 pm

Across the river at the same time, the Hutt Recreation Ground will host the final of the Senior 2 competition with the HD Morgan Memorial Cup at stake with the top qualifier from the round-robin Hutt Old Boys Marist taking on the defending champions Old Boys University.

The HOBM Barbarians, mainly consisting of players who finished as runners-up in last year's Senior 3 grade, made it to this stage with a 24-17 win over neighbours Avalon and went 8 from 8 in the round-robin. OBU prevailed 44-22 over Petone and in this round won 5 of their 8 games and drew another. One of those losses was to HOBM back in the first match of the competition by 11-15, a match played in terrible conditions at Ian Galloway Park.

It was a 12-43 loss to OBU in the first round that helped kick-start the Barbarians' season and the team, based on camaraderie and a healthy team spirit, came back to turn their season around. They qualified top for the semi-finals with a week to spare.

Heading into the final, their top points scorer this year has been Nuusa Folau with 154 points, while No. 8 Alesana Lam has scored 15 tries, lock/midfielder Sete Tuilagi has scored 10 tries and utility player Nu'u Nadolo has dotted down nine times.

The OBU team, AKA the Wolf Pack, will be eager to defend the title they won last year when they beat Johnsonville in the final at Nairnville Park. Individually in 2014, Nicholas Hutton has scored 191 points and Saini Sione is the top try scorer with 15 tries.

Colts Division 2 Vic Calcinai Cup and Division 3 Eric Connelly Cup

In the Division 2 semi-finals top qualifiers Poneke will take on the Upper Hutt Rams' ‘A' squad at Kilbirnie Park, matching up the two highest-scoring teams in the grade, with the Rams the only team to beat Poneke in the round-robin. The other semi-final of 2 v 3 pits Wainuiomata against the Kapiti team at William Jones Park, with the two sides having not faced each other this year as their scheduled meeting was in the round of matches that were cancelled and not played.

The Division 3 matches are between those sides that finished 5^th through 8^th in the round-robin phase. Tawa will host the Rams B's at Lyndhurst, while Johnsonville takes on Otaki club Rahui at Helston.

All four matches at 2.30 pm kickoffs.

Reserve Grade

The Division 1 semi-finals for the Johnsonville Centennium Cup pits top qualifiers the Poneke Ruffnuts against the OBU Therapists on Kilbirnie #2; while the Upper Hutt J8's host first-round winners and last year's Senior 3 champions the Petone Brotherhood at Maidstone Park. Both games are 2.30 pm kick-offs

The Division 2 final will be fought out at Te Whaea from 3.00 pm between the OBU Pink Ginners and the Johnsonville Cripples.

Under 85 kg restricted

The Under 85 kg grade is the only one not to have reached the playoff stage, with this weekend seeing the final round of matches. In the Paul Potiki Shield Division 1 the four semi-finalists have been found as the Upper Hutt Rams' loss to Eastbourne last weekend means that they cannot pass Waikanae for fourth. The MSP Blues (32) will finish top regardless of what happens against Avalon at Evans Bay at 2.30pm, while the Tawa Titans (27), who take on the Rams at Redwood at 12.30 and likewise will host the other semi-final. Waikanae (21) can finish third ahead of Poneke (26) - who have the bye - if they take a bonus point win over the OBU Bunnies up the coast, while the fourth game is at HW Shortt between Eastbourne and the OBU Spartans.

In the Moody Cup division 2 HOBM (27) will finish top despite having the bye this week, but below that five teams are in contention for the remaining three spots. Stokes Valley (21) are in the box seat and will host a semi-final if they beat the MSP Greens at Delaney, but the Greens beat their Red clubmates last week and could surprise. The MSP Reds (18) and Wests Roosters (17) clash at the St Pats artificial in a game where the winner may progress and the loser is definitely done, Johnsonville (17) have a tricky must-win at Wainuiomata, and Wellington (18) host Paremata-Plimmerton at Hataitai.

College Premier 2

Some of the college grades have the week off ahead of the Finals Day at Silverstream next weekend, while others are in playoff action. The Premier 2 grade is at the semi-finals stage with Porirua - who upset Kapiti last weekend - travelling to Masterton to take on top qualifiers Wairarapa; while Tawa host the Silverstream 2nds in a repeat of the side's last round-robin meeting two weeks ago.

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