Last round dogfight for Jubilee and Hardham Cup playoff places

The 22 Vodafone Wellington Lions players selected for this Sunday's ITM Cup opener against Tasman won't be playing club rugby this weekend, but the rugby played in the final round of Jubilee and Hardham Cup matches without them promises to be as hard-fought as ever.

There's much at stake for many contenders in round seven, with several teams across both top grades jostling for either semi-final home ground advantage next week or to clinch their places in the final four, or in the case of Johnsonville and Avalon in the Hardham Cup, their immediate Premier futures.

The situation in the Jubilee Cup sees three teams - Poneke, Hutt Old Boys Marist and Norths - already confirmed as semi-finalists and this week playing for home semi-finals and two more - Petone and Marist St. Pat's - battling for the one playoff spot still available.

Top two teams Poneke and HOBM play each other in the last round at Kilbirnie Park to decide who qualifies in top spot, while third placed Norths will grab the other home semi-final ahead of HOBM if they beat OBU at Porirua Park and HOBM loses to Poneke. However Poneke could still lose to HOBM and grab the second home semi-final ahead of Norths if they finish on the same points as Norths by virtue of their 17-15 over them earlier in the round.

Petone just needs to beat Upper Hutt at home at the Petone Recreation Ground to secure either third or fourth and an away semi-final.

MSP must beat Ories away at the Polo Grounds and rely on Upper Hutt beating Petone to make the playoffs and thus keep alive their hopes of reaching the final at Westpac Stadium on 15 August and capturing a Jubilee Cup three-peat.

The Andy Leslie Trophy for finishing first at the end of the Jubilee Cup round-robin will be presented to the winner of the Poneke - HOBM encounter at the conclusion of their match at Kilbirnie Park. If the game is drawn Poneke will still finish on top. Poneke will also be defending the Bill Brien Challenge Cup for the second time since winning it off Ories in round four.

Based purely on their recent head-to-head record, HOBM will have a hard time coming away with the top qualifier's berth and the silverware. Poneke have won the last five straight and seven of their previous eight encounters, with HOBM's last win against the red and blacks in round one of the 2007 Jubilee Cup, a 19-9 victory.

Their last two matches have nevertheless been exceedingly close affairs, with Poneke twice winning right at the end. No. 8 Misipalauni Moananu scored off the back of a scrum and first five-eighth Sam Rasch converted in the 78th minute for Poneke to win 31-29 in last year's Jubilee Cup round-robin match (this result also knocking the Eagles out of semi-final contention). Then in a rematch earlier this year in the Swindale Shield round, Poneke hooker Dane Coles burst through midfield and set up a last-gasp match winning try for centre Tolly Auva'a to give Poneke a 20-18 win.

In the Hardham Cup, the Wests Roosters and Wainuiomata have already booked in home semi-finals, but it's amongst the other teams down the table where the drama could unfold this weekend.

In the promotion-relegation battle, it's not quite 2006 but for Swindale Shield incumbents Johnsonville and 2011 Premier hopefuls Avalon, this last round is a massive one for their futures.

In an extraordinary Hardham Cup final round four years ago, four teams were fighting it out simultaneously in semi-final and promotion-relegation battles right up to the fulltime whistles that signalled the end of the regular season.

Johnsonville were the unlucky side and subsequently spent three years languishing in Senior 1, before taking Avalon's place in the Swindale Shield at the start of this year.

But Johnsonville's stay could be brief and they may find themselves needing to beat second placed Wainuiomata with a bonus point at home at Helston Park if they are to stay up ahead of Avalon. Johnsonville are just a point ahead of Avalon, who face a less challenging assignment in MSP B at Fraser Park. Avalon are out of top four contention, but their 10-3 win over Johnsonville at Helston Park last week means that if the two sides finish equal on points Avalon will win promotion ahead of Johnsonville.

Johnsonville is one of four teams, also including Tawa, Hutt Old Boys Marist B and Norths B, chasing the two remaining Hardham Cup playoff spots up for grabs this weekend behind Wests and Wainuiomata.

Fourth placed HOBM B and fifth equal Norths B can become the first ‘B' sides since MSP B in 2002 to qualify for the semi-finals of the Hardham Cup if they win their matches. HOBM B plays the Wests Roosters at the Cage and could still sneak through even if they lose to the in-form Roosters and Johnsonville and Norths B also lose their matches.

Norths B will need to at least beat Tawa at Porirua Park at 1.15pm to progress further, while third placed Tawa could conceivably be leapfrogged by Norths B, HOBM B and Johnsonville and miss out altogether if they don't pick up competition points.

With the business end of the season fast approaching, the competition in the lower grades is intense. In the Senior 1 Ed Chaney Cup most of the 10-team field is still in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals with three rounds to go, but this weekend's action could see more contenders drop off the pace.

With five wins from six, Ories and OBU are out in front, but nine points separates joint third placed Stokes Valley and Tawa and ninth placed Avalon and with some big clashes this weekend.

On form, both Ories and OBU can reasonably expect to move further ahead of the field this weekend when they play the two bottom teams. Ories host Avalon at the Polo Grounds and the students play winless Norths at Porirua Park.

In three key mid-table clashes, Stokes Valley and Poneke will both be chasing their fifth wins of the round when they clash at Kilbirnie Park, sixth placed Paremata-Plimmerton entertains fourth placed Tawa at Ngatitoa Domain and seventh placed Petone and eighth placed Rimutaka meet at the Petone Recreation Ground.

In round seven of the Senior 2 HD Morgan Memorial Trophy, joint leaders Upper Hutt and MSP could go further ahead if they win their games against teams from the bottom half of the field.

Upper Hutt, who beat MSP 45-3 in last week's top-of-the-table meeting, will be favoured to overcome ninth placed Petone who have just one win from their first six games. MSP meet seventh placed Poneke in their game.

Elsewhere, third placed HOBM and joint fourth placed Wellington clash in a crucial game for both sides in this week's 3pm game at the Hutt Rec. Jjoint fourth placed OBU play sixth placed Wainuiomata, who will be desperate to stay in touch with the top four, and seventh placed Wests take on winless Paremata-Plimmerton.

In the semi-finals of the U85kg Division 2 grade, MSP Red meets the HOBM Howlers at Martin Luckie Park at 3pm and Wainuiomata play the OBU-Onslow Spartans at the feature game at William Jones Park at 3pm.

It's the final of the Premier Women's Victoria Tavern Trophy on Saturday. In a repeat of last year's final, won narrowly by Norths, the home side plays Eketahuna.