The club rugby season has got to the pointy end of the season for the Premier A & Premier B sides as they will play must win semi-final rugby this weekend. Division One sides play their regular round two matches, while for our Colts & Under 85kg Competitions they face off in the big dance to determine the 2024 champions.

Waikato Draught Breweries Shield

In both matches we see repeats of last weekend’s match ups. University will welcome back Hautapu to the University in what would have been an upset to most fans last weekend when they tipped up the Cambridge men 31-17 to book themselves second spot on the ladder. Hamilton Marist and Hamilton Old Boys will do battle again two weeks in a row after Hamilton Marist won last weeks encounter 35-33 at Fred Jones Park, this week they will host the old foes on the new Marist Park turf.

The University v Hautapu match up comes with plenty of intrigue. The University boys are on a two-game winning streak after a massive win v Otorohanga a fortnight ago to keep their play off hopes alive, while Hautapu have had a mixed second round winning their two home games, however they have struggled on the road with defeats to Marist and University.

Hamilton Marist have been dominant all through 2024 - still to drop a game, but faced their biggest challenge last week to a resurgent Old Boys side to see Hamilton Marist come from behind and in the process denying Hamilton Old Boys a home semi-final.

Both games kick off at 2.45pm respectively, the final for the Waikato Draught Breweries Shield will be hosted next Saturday at the venue of the highest seeded winning club. 

Lone Star Championship

Following their last-minute penalty goal last weekend United Matamata Sports secured themselves top spot in the Lone Star Championship and will host Melville this weekend in the one v four semifinal, while Te Awamutu Sports who comfortably won vs Morrinsville Sports shot up to second place on the ladder and will host Fraser Tech at Albert Park for the third time in 2024.

United Matamata Sports’ only defeat in the second round came at the hands of Melville at Collins Road in mid-July. Other than that defeat, United Matamata Sports have arguably been the form side in the last month. They boast the competition’s leading points scorer in Logan Allen, while Damian Arnold also tops the try scoring chart with five tries to his name – the home side will be hard to beat in front of their loyal home crowd.

Melville’s Cam Scott, who currently sits just below Allen in the points scoring charts will be keen to make the trip and guide his team around the park to earn himself and his side another weekend of club rugby.

The other match up sees Fraser Tech make their third trip out to Te Awamutu Sports for 2024 – the previous two trips have been rather quite trips home, with the home side winning on both occasions, the last through a penalty try for Te Awamutu Sports to win 27-24 in the closing minutes.

Fraser Tech have had a mixed second round, winning two from their four matches, but could have easily won all four if it wasn’t for that penalty try to Te Awamutu Sports, and the last-minute penalty kick conceded last week to United Matamata Sports’ sharpshooter Logan Allen.

Elliott Shield Colts Final

The big weekend is here for our colts’ finalists. Arguably the best two teams throughout the competition’s 11-week regular season – Hautapu will host Hamilton Marist, in what is also a rematch of the 2023 final that was hosted by Hamilton Marist. The 2024 edition will come to you live from Memorial Park in Cambridge at 1pm, it will also feature on our Facebook page as the live streamed match of the weekend. 

In 2024 both sides have only dropped one game apiece, Hamilton Marist’s came as a shock going down to Pirongia, while Hautapu’s defeat came back in April in the second week to Hamilton Marist at Memorial Park in Cambridge. Other than those two blemishes, both sides have been largely untroubled for large parts of their respective matches.

Hamilton Marist’s Levi Cressy-Baggot has had a dominant season as the competition’s leading points scorer with a total of 147 points to his name, while his nearest rival has 79. Hautapu Sports’ Johanson Tamala currently has 65 points to his name and will be keen to increase that in his last hit out for 2024. Cressy-Baggot will finish the season as the competition’s leading points scorer – the question is, just how many more points will he add in this showdown?

Don Shergold Under 85kg Final

2023 champions Morrinsville Sports will host their third consecutive in the Under 85kg Championship decider – this time hosting Fraser Tech in what will be their first finals appearance since the 2021 season when they won the title 16-15 over Melville.

In last weekend’s semi-finals Morrinsville Sports had to come from behind over Hamilton Marist to reach the big dance, while Fraser Tech made amends for their earlier draw and defeat to Melville to earn themselves another week of rugby.

Morrinsville Sports have been the form side of 2024 with a 9-win, 1 loss record – that defeat to Fraser Tech back at the start of June just over a month ago, while Fraser Techs road hasn’t been so smooth they are battled hardened and will back themselves this weekend making the trip out to Morrinsville.

Division One

While a large part of tomorrow’s rugby action has a “must win” feel to it, our Division One competition trucks along in their second round. With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the top six Mooloo Shield is a tightly run competition. Southern United & Suburbs both head the ladder with two wins apiece from their three starts and will square off against each other tomorrow at Flagstaff Park.

Third placed Hinuera, who also has a two win, one loss record will host Putaruru who has one win, one draw and a loss to their name. The final match up sees Leamington host Ohaupo in what is a massive game for both clubs if they want to even consider finals rugby to end 2024.

In the Division One Championship, Kereone will host Te Rapa at Campbell Park in Morrinsville, while Frankton will host Taupiri at Swarbrick Park in Hamilton in what will be the final home game for both Frankton and Kereone in 2024.  

Article added: Thursday 11 July 2024