“It’s really just a reflection of an amazing season my Melville team has had. I’m truly blessed and grateful for the village I’ve had behind me this season.”
Waikato Draught Breweries Shield
While the 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 makes the trip across town to go head-to-head with Hamilton Old Boys.
Marist won comfortably in the first round. Old Boys have come a long way since that afternoon and will back themselves to give the competition leaders a run for their money.
A win for Marist would see them top the table and host their remaining matches in 2024.
A win for Hamilton Old Boys could see them jump into second place depending on the Hautapu v University result.
After tough-fought wins last weekend for both Hautapu and University, 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 the best-case scenario being that they could get into the second spot if Marist can defeat Old Boys for the second time in 2024.
Ōtorohanga’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, the Lone Star Championship top four sides have been confirmed with Melville, Fraser Tech, United Matamata Sports and Te Awamutu Sports all set for the semi-finals next weekend.
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 for other results to determine where they finish in the top four.
Currently sitting atop the Championship, they are likely to be passed by Te Awamutu Sports if they win v Morrinsville Sports in Te Awamutu tomorrow and the winner of the Fraser Tech v United Matamata Sports game that is at Mill Street Park in Hamilton.
Morrinsville is playing for pride tomorrow and its 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.
There’s 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 at the start of June in Hamilton and will be looking to go two from two against the Bedford Park-based side.
Catch this match on Waikato Rugby’s Facebook live-stream tomorrow afternoon with commentary from Graeme “Mintie” Mead and Joel Skulander at 2.45pm.
Division One Mooloo Shield
Currently, there’s a bit of a log jam in the Mooloo Shield points table. Southern United have started two from two, while Suburbs, Hinuera, Putāruru, and Ōhaupō 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 were 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 Ōhaupō at Flagstaff Park with both sides coming off impressive performances last weekend. They will be eager to back it up for their first consecutive wins in the second round.
Ōhaupō were strong at home over Putāruru while Suburbs went out to Hinuera and upset them in a game they wouldn’t have expected to win.
The final match-up sees Leamington make the trip down to Putāruru 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 hosts 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 is 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 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 moves into their semi-finals weekend.
While the top four have largely remained throughout the season, there 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 several seasons and finish second behind Hautapu.
While Hautapu got across the line against Old Boys in their encounter just over a fortnight ago. 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 v University and will await the winner of Suburbs v Thames Valley United to see who they will host in next weekend’s Colts Championship final.
Suburbs just beat the Thames Valley lads 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-85kg
Following the long weekend break, the Under-85kg sides are well-rested and looking forward to their semi-final weekend.
Top of the table Morrinsville Sports will host Hamilton Marist at Campbell Park and will be looking to make it a clean sweep against the Hamilton-based club in 2024 with three wins from three attempts.
It will also be the first time since 2021 that these two sides have not played each other in the final as one of the two will be eliminated a week earlier than in previous years.
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 in front of their home supporters to ensure they make their first final since 2021 when they beat tomorrow’s opponents 16-15.
