Top of the table clashes, jostling for seedings into the second round and play-offs in the Waitomo Group Women’s Championship headline a massive weekend of club rugby in the Waikato.

Breweries Shield Premiership

Hamilton Old Boys get their second round underway following a bye in week one. They will make the trip across town and square off against University in what will be their second visit to the University in 2024 – their first back in week two of the first round where they fell agonisingly short losing 9-8. University is bouncing back after a tough defeat last weekend to Hamilton Marist on the turf where they were in front at half time and early into the second half.  They will be buoyed by that opening 50minutes last weekend and even more so been back home to be in front of their home crowd.

Week one winners Hamilton Marist make the trip down to Island Reserve where Otorohanga will await. These two sides played back in late May under lights where Hamiton Marist were too strong, winning 31-13. However, Otorohanga are a different prospect at home and will throw everything they have at the Marist men as they look to bounce back from an on the road defeat to Hautapu last weekend.

Hautapu will rest up this weekend with the bye before their return next weekend when they make the trip into Hamilton and will get their first turf experience at Marist Park.

Lone Star Championship

Following their opening weekend bye Fraser Tech get into their second round with a roadie out to Te Awamutu to face off against Te Awamutu Sports at Albert Park. Te Awamutu are back home after a close loss last weekend to United Matamata Sports where the lead changed hands multiple times in the final minutes. Te Awamutu are looking for their first victory since way back in week two – the week after they beat Fraser Tech at home to get their 2024 season underway. Meanwhile, Fraser Tech welcomes back Pat McCurran following a long injury layoff and will look for his impact off the bench.

Back in town, last week two winners do battle when Melville welcome United Matamata Sports to Collins Road. Following rather narrow wins last weekend both sides will head into tomorrow’s action with plenty of confidence and keen to end the weekend top of the standings. These sides last squared off in early May when Melville made the trip to Matamata upsetting the home side 27-22.

Waitomo Group Women’s Premiership

This week sees the final weekend of the regular season for the Women’s Premiership. Melville hold on to a slim advantage at the top of the table over the Huskies and will make the trip south to Otorohanga while the Huskies will host University at Willoughby Park.

A win for Melville will see them maintain top spot and host a play-off matches at Collins Road, while the Huskies are hopeful of an upset at Island Reserve for them to hopefully jump Melville and claim top spot in the closing weekend.

The current leading try scorer in the Women’s Premiership Veisinia Fakalelu will be looking to add to her season tally of 14 tries when she takes the field vs Otorohanga. Fakalelu is seven tries clear of her nearest rival Ana Marsters from the Huskies, largely thanks to a six try haul back in round seven vs Kihikihi.

Division One

The Division One competition is in their final week of the first round before they make the split into the Mooloo Shield top six and Championship with the remaining five. While the top six sides are locked in and can not be chased down, they are all jostling for places inside that top six – where the top three will all gain an additional home game in second round.

Two big match ups await where fifth place Putaruru host top of the table and neighbours Southern United. A special game on the calendar that both clubs have been looking forward to all season. The last time these sides met is was Putaruru who won 27-26 in Tokoroa, Southern United will be looking to make a mends come tomorrow afternoon.

The other top six battle sees third place Leamington host second placed Hinuera. Both sides could still quality top of the table depending on the Southern United and Putaruru result, while both sides could also fall outside the top three depending on results. A massive match up is on the cards between two very good sides.

A big derby game that will have little impact on the ladder is Ohaupo hosting neighbours Pirongia at Ohaupo Domain. Pirongia are locked into the bottom half of the competition for the second round, where Ohaupo are playing for the Mooloo Shield come round two. No matter the result, Ohaupo will finish sixth on the ladder for the opening half of the season.

In other matches winless Frankton host Suburbs for the Reineck Shield at Swarbrick Park while Kereone will host Taupiri at Campbell Park in Morrinsville.

Waitomo Group Women’s Championship

Semi-final weekend for our Women’s Premiership will see top seed Putaruru host Taupiri at Nola Block park in what is a massive day of footy for the home side. Putaruru have gone throughout the season unbeaten which includes a 55-5 win over Hautapu back in late April. Putaruru leading’s point scorer Bostyn Brown will be looking for another top performance to guide her side through to another week and earn their spot in the Championship final.

2024 newcomers Suburbs will host the other semi-final when they host Taupiri at Flagstaff Park. Suburbs have almost had a dream start in their opening year into the Women’s Championship with six wins and one defeat. Suburbs also boast two of the five competitions leading try scorers in Violet Hapi-Wise (15) and Araraina Takuira-Mita (7) and will be after some of that try scoring flair to book their spot into the decider.

Taupiri however won’t be easy beats as they too have players featuring in the try-scoring charts. Fullback Renee Swetman who has amassed eight tries in 2024 along with a further 32 points off the boot currently sits second on the competition’s points scoring charts will be looking to guide her side around the field and cause a small boil over in the Women’s Championship.

Colts

Two weeks remain in the colts competition and it is headlined by a top three match up when third placed welcome top side Hautapu to Fred Jones Park.

Hautapu have been the form side in 2024 and will back themselves heading into town however Hamilton Old Boys have been going alright themselves recording six wins from their nine starts and will be keen to upset table toppers Hautapu.

Hamilton Marist who sit one point below Hautapu will make the trip down Wairere Drive to Flagstaff Park and face Suburbs. Hamilton Marist currently boasts the competition’s leading points scorer in Levi Cressy-Baggott who will be looking to add to his seasons tally and can hopefully get his side to the top of the table depending on the Hautapu result.

In other matches, University host United Matamata at the University in another big day of code at the University. Leamington will host Hinuera while Pirongia will host Fraser Tech. In the final match up Thames Valley United will host Morrinsville Sports over in Waihi in what will be Morrinsville final away trip in the regular season before they return home next weekend.

Under 85kgs

Following their big upset last weekend over top of the table, Fraser Tech are back home again and will welcome Leamington. While the win didn’t further increase their standings on the ladder, it did ensure they stay second on the ladder just in front of Melville and Hamilton Marist following their wins last weekend.

Morrinsville Sports get back on the horse with an away trip down to Kio Kio while Melville and Hamilton Marist face off in a three v four battle where the winner will keep tracks with Fraser Tech and Morrinsville while the loser will be consigned to likely finish the regular season in fourth spot.

Article added: Friday 14 June 2024