A mix bag of rugby this weekend – the colts and under 85kg competitions move into semi-finals for their respective competitions while the men’s Premiership & Championship move into their final week of the second round and the Division One team reach the midway point of their second round. As we know, all of our Women’s competitions have now wrapped up for the year with Melville becoming our new champions in the Waitomo Group Women’s Premiership.

Waikato Draught Breweries Shield

While our top four are locked in for the Breweries Shield semi-finals next weekend – teams are battling it out for positions tomorrow afternoon. Top of the table Hamilton Marist make the trip across town to go head-to-head with Hamilton Old Boys. Winning comfortably in the first round, Old Boys have come a long way since that afternoon and will back themselves to give competition leaders a run for their money. A win for Marist will see them top the table and host their remaining matches in 2024. In what would be considered an upset, a win for Hamilton Old Boys could see them jump into second place depending on the Hautapu University result.

The other match up sees second placed Hautapu come into town and take on University. After a tough fought win last weekend for both sides they will be eager to continue that winning run heading into next weekend’s semi-finals. A win for the students could see them jump Hautapu with best case scenario they could get into second spot if Marist can defeat Old Boys for the second time in 2024.

Unfortunately, Otorohanga’s season came to an abrupt end last weekend when they lost at home to university before having the bye this weekend.

Lone Star Championship

Like the Premiership above, the Lone Star Championship top four sides have been confirmed with Melville, Fraser Tech, United Matamata Sports and Te Awamutu Sports all confirmed for the semi-finals next weekend, while Morrinsville Sports have booked themselves a promotion/relegation match up with the eventual winners of the Division One Mooloo Shield.

Melville will sit out club rugby tomorrow afternoon and will wait of other results to determine where they finish in the top four. Currently sitting a top of the Championship, they are likely to be passed by Te Awamutu Sports if they win vs Morrinsville Sports in Te Awamutu tomorrow, and the winner of the Fraser Tech, United Matamata Sports game that is at Mill Street Park in Hamilton.

Morrinsville is playing for pride tomorrow and their last chance to build some momentum before that play-off match, while Te Awamutu Sports will be looking to get into the top two to host a semi-final next weekend.

Plenty to play for between Fraser Tech and United Matamata Sports where the winner will likely finish top of the table and will be hosting play-off rugby to finish their 2024 season. Fraser Tech won 29-20 vs United Matamata Sports at the start of June in Hamilton and will be looking to go two from two vs the Bedford Park side. Catch this match on our Facebook live stream tomorrow afternoon with commentary from Mintie & Joel, live at 2.45pm. 

Division One Mooloo Shield

Currently a bit of a log jam in the Mooloo Shield points table. Southern United have started two from two, while Suburbs, Hinuera, Putaruru and Ohaupo have all had one win and one loss to kick off their second round.

Tomorrow afternoon will see Southern United host Hinuera in Tokoroa. Hinuera had the better of the two sides way back in late April at Wealleans Park while Southern United will be looking to maintain their perfect start to the second round and make it three wins from three starts.

Suburbs will host Ohaupo at Flagstaff. Both sides coming off impressive performances last weekend and will be eager to back it up for their first consecutive wins in the second round. Ohaupo were strong at home over Putaruru while Suburbs went out to Hinuera and upset them in a game they would have expected to win. The final match up sees Leamington make the trip out to Putaruru trying to get their first win of the second round which will see them make up some ground on the other five sides and keep play-off hopes alive.

Division One Championship

Top of the table and two wins from two starts Taupiri host Te Rapa at Murphy Lane. Both sides  are well rested after Taupiri’s last game was Thursday night last week to enjoy the long weekend while Te Rapa also had the long weekend off on their bye.

The other match up sees the struggling Frankton return home to host Pirongia. Like Taupiri and Te Rapa, Pirongia are well rested following their Thursday night game, while Frankton are bouncing back from a tough loss to Kereone in Morrinsville last weekend. Pirongia will be after their first win of the second round to get that back on track and hopefully stay in touch for play-off contention..

Colts

After a well contested 11 weeks of regular round robin rugby the Colts competition move into their semi-finals weekend. While the top four have largely remained throughout the season, their was some shuffling of the deck in the order they have finished in, while only two wins separated fifth placed Hinuera and tenth placed Leamington.

In the top four semi-finals Hautapu will host Hamilton Old Boys in Cambridge, while Hamilton Marist will host Pirongia on the turf. The Marist boys will be out with plenty to prove after an upset to Pirongia earlier in the year saw them drop their first game in a number of seasons and finish second behind Hautapu. While Hautapu got across the line vs Old Boys in their encounter just over a fortnight ago, we know plenty is on the line in do or die rugby and the Hamilton men will head to Cambridge with plenty of motivation to upset the home side.

In the next group of play-offs, Hinuera have already won their match up vs University and will await the winner of Suburbs vs Thames Valley United to see who they will host in next weekends Colts Championship Final. Suburb just beat the Thames Valley lads early last month in a tight 38-33 battle and will back themselves to repeat that tomorrow afternoon.

The Colts plate matches will see Morrinsville Sports host Fraser Tech and Leamington host United Matamata Sports.

Under 85kgs

Following the long weekend break last weekend, the Under 85kg sides are all well rested and looking forward to their respective semi-final weekend.

Top of the table Morrinsville Sports will host Hamilton Marist at Campbell Park in Morrinsville and will be looking to make it a clean sweep vs the Hamilton based club in 2024 with three wins from three attempts. It will also be the first time since 2021 when these two sides have not played each other in the final as one of the two will be eliminated a week earlier than previous years in the semi-final stages.

The other semi final is Fraser Tech hosting Melville at Elliott Park. Following the opening weekend 17 all draw – the only draw for this competition all season, it was Melville who won the second match 17-11 at Fraser Tech’s home ground. Tech will need to even that ledger this weekend back in front of their home supporters to ensure they make their first final since 2021 when they beat tomorrow’s opponents 16-15.

Article added: Friday 05 July 2024