Wanganui face tough tests in battle for Meads Cup

Wanganui's ambitions to win the second-tier championship will get a tough test over the next two weeks.

They opened the Heartland Championship Meads Cup competition with a 46-8 win over Mid Canterbury to lead the standings but face North Otago and Wairarapa-Bush next.

Wairarapa-Bush, like Wanganui unbeaten in their qualifying pool, maintained their perfect record by beating Horowhenua-Kapiti 31-11 while North Otago came off 36-6 winners over South Canterbury.

These three teams are comfortably placed to make the semifinals and the battle for the fourth spot looks to be among Horowhenua-Kapiti, South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury.

In the second-tier Lochore Cup, the battle for semifinals slots look to be much closer with King Country thrusting themselves into the equation with a 11-6 win over Buller yesterday to move into third spot. Thames Valley and Poverty Bay occupy the two top placings with 15 and 14 points, respectively, after big wins.

The battle for the remaining two semifinal spots look set to be fought out among King Country, Buller, both on 10 points and West Coast and East Coast, on six points each, with two games to go.

Wanganui play North Otago in Oamaru on Saturday and need big improvements in their forward play and tactical thinking.

- NZPA