Round eight club rugby action between University and United Matamata Sports. Photo / Norrie Mailer
Round eight club rugby action between University and United Matamata Sports. Photo / Norrie Mailer
A massive weekend of club rugby is upon us for a couple of senior men’s and women’s grades.
The Gallagher Women’s Premiership is into the semifinals for the top four, and the bottom two play off to avoid the dreaded promotion-relegation game in a fortnight’s time.
The Women’s Championship Final takes place this weekend and the Men’s Premiership is into its final week, where four of the five top five spots are locked in, with fifth and sixth going head-to-head for that final spot.
The remainder of the club rugby competitions march on for another week.
The first final of the year has come around fast – the Women’s Championship.
Top of the table Taupiri have been the standout side, winning all six of their regular season matches. They will host second-placed Hauraki, who squeezed into second spot in front of Matamata Sport purely on points differential after both sides were locked on 13 points with two wins apiece. That game will kick off on Saturday at 1pm on Murphy Lane in Taupiri. The winner will earn the right to play in the promotion-relegation fixture on Saturday, June 10.
The Premiership semifinalists have been locked in for a couple of weeks and the time has finally come for the four sides to go head-to-head.
Hamilton Old Boys Huskies, who finished the season unbeaten, will host the ladies from Kihikihi at Willoughby Park while University, who finished second, will host Melville at the University complex. The last time those sides played each other in round five they could not be split – a 22-all draw. This weekend that will need to be decided, so get along to the University complex and get your team across the line. Both of those matches kick off at 1pm on Saturday. To round out the Women’s Premiership, Ōtorohanga host Hamilton Marist in the fifth v sixth playoff and neighbours Putāruru and Southern United are also set to battle. The winner of that match will avoid the promotion-relegation game in a fortnight against the winner of the Taupiri v Hauraki championship final.
The Premiership men’s competition wraps up its first round this weekend and all eyes will be on Te Awamutu Sports hosting University.
This game will feature on the Waikato Rugby live stream – you can find that on the Waikato Rugby Union’s Facebook page. The final spot inside the top five is on the line – the winner of this fixture will go through and battle it out in the top five with dreams of the Waikato Draught Breweries Shield in July still attainable, while the loser will compete in the championship. The cat among the pigeons is that, if the match is drawn, neither will advance. The final place will go to Fraser Tech, who have won by default against United Matamata Sports. Last season we saw a 22-21 victory to the students, so tomorrow’s match-up at Albert Park will be a cracker.
Top-of-the-table Hamilton Marist travel to Ōtorohanga to round out their first round. They have plenty to play for in this match – a win to Hamilton Marist will secure them first-round honours, the silverware that comes with it and the first pick of the round two byes. A win for the home side will likely see Hautapu jump Hamilton Marist and pick up top-of-the-table honours as Hautapu travel to Morrinsville Sports. Ōtorohanga are currently four from four at home this season, so it will be a big result if the Hamilton Marist men can win at Island Reserve.
United Matamata Sports halfback clears the ball from scrum base in round eight action. Photo / Norrie Mailer
Morrinsville Sports host Hautapu in what is a big day of rugby at Campbell Park. An action-packed morning kicks off with all the junior rugby at home, followed by a Special Olympics “Have A Go Day” at 11am. All four sides are at home and will look to impress the fans. Hautapu will head to Morrinsville knowing a win for them and a loss to Hamilton Marist in Ōtorohanga will secure them the top spot.
To wrap up the weekend, Melville play host to Hamilton Old Boys at Collins Road. Melville cannot increase their position on the ladder with a win and will finish the first round in ninth. Meanwhile, Hamilton Old Boys are secure inside the top five, where their finish will be decided by other results. In the best-case scenario, they end up in third.
Those Premiership A games all kick off at 2.45pm on Saturday, with Premier B games at 1pm. Premier B sides will follow their Premier A side into the second round, when they will play for their respective trophies.
Division One heads into round eight of nine.
Table-toppers Leamington have a fine buffer – eight points clear of the three-team chasing pack of Putāruru, Southern United and Ōhaupō, all on 23. The big match-up this weekend sees Leamington host Ōhaupō in what is a massive match for the Ōhaupō men. As this competition has thrown up over the last seven weeks, results are hard to predict – so this weekend we won’t.
Highflying Putāruru host Suburbs at Nola Block. Undefeated at Nola Block this year, the home side will back themselves to maintain that record. However, two of those four home matches have finished in draws.
Te Rapa, who mathematically remain in the hunt for the top five second-round, host Pirongia. Nothing short of two wins from two will do for the Te Rapa side, so a big game on Saturday awaits. Pirongia will be looking to make amends for their one-point home defeat last weekend.
Two sides who will play the bottom five in the second round and will see each other again are Frankton and Taupiri. The Taupiri men travel into town in search of their first win of the year while Frankton are chasing back-to-back victories for the first time in 12 months.
To round off the weekend, Southern United host Hinuera. Hinuera, who were upset at home by Frankton last weekend, will travel to Tokoroa, where a win will keep them in the hunt for top five honours. They will need some results to go their way, but a win will keep them in there for one more week. Southern United will have other plans: a win for the Tokoroa men will lock them into the top five with a week to play and sit them in the top three heading into the last week of the first round.
The Under-85kg Competition continues to tick along in parallel with the National Club Championship. Another weekend of Waikato competition fixtures awaits six teams in what is now the second half of the competition.
A top-four battle is on the cards when Hamilton Marist (currently second) host Fraser Tech (currently third) at Marist Park. Fraser Tech upset Hamilton Marist in week three to record their first win of the season. Hamilton Marist will be back to even up the record for 2023. Top-of-the-table Morrinsville Sports host Kio Kio United. A 98-0 win secured a strong points differential for the Morrinsville side, and they will look to repeat that tomorrow. The last match-up sees Leamington host Melville in Cambridge.
The colts competition kicks off the weekend tonight in Waitete, where Te Awamutu Sports travel south to take on the home side. Both sides have a sole victory and will look to double that win record this afternoon.
In other matches, Hamilton Marist host close neighbours Hamilton Boys High at Marist Park, Morrinsville Sports host Hinuera and Southern United host Matamata.
The University students, who currently sit mid-table and will be after some much-needed points, travel to Pirongia, where a win will see them climb the ladder. Hautapu host Leamington at Memorial Park, where they will battle for a new referees trophy played for between the two Cambridge sides. This match is part of the Cambridge Referees Centenary Celebrations. Hamilton Old Boys host Thames Valley United in a three v five battle, and rounding out the weekend is Fraser Tech hosting Suburbs.
