Jubilee Cup Top Four Almost Decided

The make-up of the top four Jubilee Cup contenders should be all but decided with a round to spare following this weekend's penultimate round-robin set of matches.

Should they win this weekend, Northern United and Petone will join unbeaten Marist St. Pat's in this year's semi-finals, while fourth placed Hutt Old Boys Marist should be through if they win and there are no major shock results over the final two weeks.

Two teams hoping for just that are Old Boys-University and Tawa, both still alive, each of who can fill two of the playoff spots at both Petone's and HOBM's expense if they win their last two games with bonus point wins. While possible, the most likely scenario is for that not to happen and for the composition of the four to remain unchanged. Factors working against OBU and Tawa are the difficulty in scoring four tries on most of the heavy grounds and the not so small obstacle of each having to play Norths in the last two weeks.

Adding to the equation for OBU, who play HOBM in the last round away at the Hutt Recreation Ground, is that HOBM and Petone meet this weekend at the Hutt Recreation Ground, meaning that unless this match is drawn one of those two will move further ahead on points. Both will be desperate, for Petone it is the first of two home games to finish off, with the last round visitor to the Village being MSP.

MSP will be heavily favoured to beat the Wests Roosters at home at Evans Bay Park this week and register their tenth straight win, and also grab their first bonus point of the Cup round to ensure a home semi-final.

In contrast, Norths may have two defeats in the losses column, but have also picked up five bonus points and scored almost twice as many points as MSP, making them favourites in this week's Club Weekly feature match against OBU at Nairnville Park and for a fourth consecutive home semi-final, despite the depletion of half their first XV to representative duty. Still in town, Tawa will struggle to score four tries at a Kilbirnie Park quagmire against a Poneke team looking to end their season on a positive note.

Meanwhile, the tension builds towards a crescendo in the Hardham Cup in the next two weeks in a high-stakes conclusion to the Premier Two season. Wainuiomata, Avalon, Upper Hutt and Johnsonville are all still fighting it out in rounds six and seven for the three Swindale Shield spots still available. Both Wainui and Avalon should be safe with just two ‘B' teams each to play, but Upper and Johnsonville both meet unbeaten Ories in the last two weeks, putting the pressure right on them.

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