Hardham Finals Preview!

Oriental-Rongotai v Johnsonville This Sunday will be the final showdown between Oriental-Rongotai and Johnsonville for Hardham Cup glory in 2005. It is a game that shapes as a fascinating contest.

Both teams find themselves in an unexpected position after overcoming heavily favoured opposition to win their semi finals. Ories were beaten convincingly
26-14 the first time they came up against OBU and were predicted to do the same last Sunday. However they defied the odds and came out on top, posing a real threat today. Johnsonville were also beaten by HOBM in round one (41-7), a different team compared to the side that embarrassed HOBM on Sunday.

Johnsonville will have some work to do as a lot of their points and breaks in the semi final came from gaining the ball against the run of play. Their set-piece especially at scrum time will need improvement if they are to threaten. However, they are not short of outstanding players who have got them out of tight spots in the past. Corey Burt will be hoping for an improved goalkicking performance today after an uncharacteristic display last week. Despite this, Burt still managed to score a well worked try and is currently leading the points table on 175 points.
Farrand Turner has been in superb tryscoring form and will be looking to add to his impressive tally of 13 for the season.

Ories never have a shortage of dangerous players such as and will threaten the line with the likes of Lote Raikubula, Fale Seve and Miah Nikora. Going into the match Ories has the psychological advantage after narrowly beating Johnsonville in round five 18-17. The margin of error will be the defining factor as the sides are so evenly matched and will be giving 110% in order to come out on top today. With the exception of HOBM, Ories points for and against stats are the best in the competition and they will be hard to beat on this evidence.

Overall the game will be an epic battle and one that will be extremely exciting to watch as both teams fight for supremacy and have their final say in the hope of becoming the Hardham Cup champions for 2005.