Hardham Semi Finals!

Hutt Old Boys Marist v Johnsonville

Hutt Old Boys Marist came away from the round robin unscathed winning all seven games and having the luxury of playing the fourth qualifier. The last game saw the side again convincingly defeat their opponents with MSP on the receiving end in round seven. This has been the trend for HOBM throughout the Hardham Cup, never missing a beat as the intimidating force at the top of the table.

Johnsonville on the other hand have had their fair share of ups and downs during the Cup winning four out of seven and losing to HOBM 41-7 in round one. This thrashing will be in the back of their mind as they head into the match with the hope of learning from past mistakes. Johnsonville only just managed to beat Northern United as they made a late charge in the competition. However this win will give them a degree of confidence going into the match which could be enough to spark an upset.

Both sides have their offensive weapons with top point?s scorer Corey Burt sure to play a big part in the game. Burt leads the points scoring table now on 160 and will be looking to add to his total this weekend. HOBM have lethal attackers all over the park with Mike Kingsbeer and Jonathan Bentley also right up there on the points table. Johnsonville?s Farrand Turner leads the competition in tries, which is something HOBM will have to watch when defending. However HOBM have their own try scoring machines in the form of Malakai Kisina and Jonathan Manu who are both nipping at Turners heals.

Defence will be the operative word in this semi final encounter with both sides unwilling to budge. Neither team can afford to miss tackles at this stage of the competition, as it could be the defining factor between winning and losing. The forwards could prove crucial, as they will need to obtain clean ball in order to give the backs a chance of moving the ball wide.

This game looks to be an exciting one with Johnsonville having to pull out all the stops to keep their final chances alive against the mighty power of HOBM. HOBM have the home ground advantage, which will work in their favour as they do every thing they can to remain in the top spot.


Oriental-Rongotai v Old Boys University

The second semi-final is another interesting match up to watch. The last time these teams met was back in round three with OBU taking the match relatively comfortably 26-14 away from home. OBU have played extremely well during the Hardham Cup with only one loss to top of the table HOBM. This is a turn around, as they didn?t post a single win in the Swindale Shield. OBU will be keen to keep their run of form going by defeating Ories and advancing to the final.

Ories will not let this happen without a fight and will be eager to prove that their last encounter was a one off. The side has just beaten Poneke in the last round and will want to do much of the same to OBU this weekend. Defensively Ories are generally on the ball letting in only 83 points during the Cup with their total points at 210. This will be an aspect of their game they will use to prevent OBU crossing the line, giving their players the chance to capitalise.

Not only do Ories defend well, they are also well known for having devastating attackers. With players such as Lote Raikubula out wide they will be difficult to stop with the ball in hand. The Ories backline has embarrassed teams in the past and will be looking to continue this facet of their game on Sunday.

Mike Te Moana will be looking to add to his list of tries for the season proving to be a difficult person to stop. Patrick Maguire also has a handy total for his side and could play a major role in the encounter. OBU beat Petone in round seven 19-0 in wet conditions and had to go back to basics to take the game. Their general play was disorganised and sloppy which could have been expected, considering the conditions. However, Ories won?t let them get away with these mistakes during this encounter.

This match will be a great one to watch and one that could potentially go either way. OBU will have the advantage of already beating Ories, combined with playing in front of a home crowd, but Ories have nothing to lose and will not take this game lying down.