And then there were four
With one week remaining in the Mitre 10 Cup regular season, there are a few things we know for sure.
Canterbury, Taranaki, North Harbour and Tasman will play in the Premiership semifinals, but who will play who and where remains a mystery.
Wellington will play in the Championship semifinals, as heavy favourites to win promotion, and they will be joined by three of possible four contenders – Northland, Bay of Plenty, Manawatu¯ , and Otago.
Three of the other five teams – Counties Manukau, Hawke’s Bay and Southland – have nothing left to play for, and can start planning their holidays. But the same can’t be said for Auckland and Waikato, two proud provinces who are facing the prospect of relegation from the Premiership to the Championship.
Waikato currently sit in the danger zone, after two late yellow cards helped North Harbour to come from behind late and beat them 13-11 at FMG Stadium in Hamilton yesterday, where Ben Volavola slotted a penalty in stoppage time to give his side the win.
They now lie two points behind Auckland who lost to Tasman, 31-18 at Trafalgar Park in Nelson earlier yesterday.
Waikato need Auckland to lose to Canterbury at Eden Park or Friday, then to beat Bay of Plenty
themselves in Tauranga the following day to stay up.
At the other end of the table, Tasman’s win yesterday secured them a place in the semifinals. It was their second in the space of four days, following their 21-14 triumph over North Harbour in Blenheim on Wednesday. Those two teams play Counties Manukau and Taranaki respectively in the final week.
The most dramatic game of the round was the Ranfurly Shield clash in Christchurch on Friday night, where Taranaki came from
31-7 down to beat Canterbury 55-43, and get their hands on shield.
Taranaki are behind Canterbury only on points difference, but have two games left to play, so could finish in top spot, if they get the job done when they play Manawatu¯ on Wednesday, with the Shield on the line, and North Harbour on Sunday.
In the championship, Northland and Bay of Plenty picked up crucial wins, to ensure a logjam from second to fifth, where the four teams are separated by just four points.
Northland beat Hawke’s Bay 34-7, at their Toll Stadium home on Saturday afternoon, to move up to second, but will likely have to upset Wellington on Thursday to stay in the top four, given who their rivals have to face.
Bay of Plenty beat Otago 36-28 earlier on Saturday in Dunedin, and now face relegation-battling Waikato at home in their final match next weekend. Otago are also at home, where they face winless Southland, who continued their miserable run on Saturday, losing 61-12 to Wellington at Rugby
Park in Invercargill.
Manawatu¯ are the fifth side in the mix for the Championship semifinals, but lost to Counties Manukau 29-24 last Thursday. They will have two chances to pick up points in the final week, starting with Wednesday’s visit to Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth, where they will have the extra incentive of trying to lift the Ranfurly Shield, and ending on the other side of the North Island, in Napier on Sunday, where they finish the regular season against Hawke’s Bay.