It's battle lines drawn

ON A HIGH: Rams under-11 and under-13 squads show their delight at being involved in their competition finals after a training session this week.

The cream of Wairarapa-Bush JAB rugby will be on show on Saturday when the various competition winners are found.

Straight finals will be played in the under-9, under-10, under-11 and under-13 grades while the under-8s will play semifinals and a final.

It will be a particularly hectic time for Rams supporters as their club has the potential to be represented in four of the five competition deciders, three of which are played for the Dickson Shield and the other two for the Challenge Trophy.

A brief preview of Saturday's action is:

Champions Trophy under-8s: Semifinal matches will be played at Colombo Rd at 9.30am followed by the final at 10am.

The four teams involved are Rams Black, Rams White, Eketahuna and Gladstone Black. They have been the top four in this grade all season with Gladstone Black perhaps the slightest of favourites.

Champions Trophy under-9s: Rams White and Martinborough will meet in the final at Carterton at 9.30am.

Unbeaten Martinborough have set the benchmark in this grade all season and they are going to be hard to topple.

Rams White has, however, made steady improvement all season and can't be completely discounted.

Dickson Shield under-10s: Martinborough and Pioneer do battle in the final at Marist grounds at 9.30am. This has been an even grade all season and this game is too close to call.

Pioneer caused the upset by knocking out top seeds Marist in the semis while Martinborough have been consistent performers right through.

Dickson Shield under-11s: Rams and Gladstone are the finalists here and will front up at Memorial Park at 10.30am.

These are clearly the top two sides in this grade with the bulk of the under-11 reps coming from them.

Rams will start favourites through their unbeaten record but Gladstone have extended them in the past and will probably do so again.

An upset is not out of the question.

Dickson Shield under-13s: It will be all on between Rams and Greytown in the competition finale at Memorial Park, starting at 11.45am.

These teams have practically identical records and their two meetings so far this season have resulted in a win apiece.

Both sides contain several quality players and this is expected to be a high-scoring thriller. It could go either way.