Playoffs berth at stake for improved PiratesOld Boys

PIRATESOLD BOYS coach David Hall is treating the final roundrobin fixture tomorrow as knockout match.

PiratesOld Boys sit fourth in Southland’s premier club rugby competition standings, two points behind fifthplaced EasternNorthern Barbarians.

A win over Star tomorrow will lock in a playoffs spot for PiratesOld Boys, but lose and they will rely on Marist toppling the Barbarians in Gore.

‘‘We’ve got to expect the Barbarians will win, which means our game [against Star] is a mustwin. We are treating it as a quarterfinal. That is how we are preparing,’’ Hall said.

PiratesOld Boys will not have one of their key attacking weapons, Mike Molloy, available for the crunch game.

The Stags outside back sustained a head knock several weeks ago and has been ruled out.

Fullback Josh Buchan is also carrying a thigh injury and Hall rated him a ‘‘5050’’ chance to play tomorrow.

A win and a playoffs berth would cap off an encouraging roundrobin series for the Surrey Parkbased club this year.

PiratesOld Boys won just one game last year and the outlook was bleak at the start of the season when they dropped their first two games.

‘‘We’ve made some good progress this season. At the start of the season if you said a semifinal spot would be in our own destiny in the final round, we would have taken it. But it would be a bit disappointing if we do not to make it,’’ Hall said.

PiratesOld Boys have bottomofthetable Star in their way tomorrow and Hall was wary of what Star possessed, despite its position on the table.

‘‘They will roll out a good team. If they get momentum they can rack up points pretty quickly.

‘‘When a team has nothing to lose and just throw the ball around, they often can play their best rugby. So they will be tough.’’

Woodlands and Blues will squareoff at Blues, with a strong prospect the fixture could be a dress rehearsal to a semifinal showdown the following week.

No matter what happens tomorrow Blues will finish third in the competition standings.

Woodlands sits second, one point behind Marist, heading into the final round.

Meanwhile, there is still two rounds to play in the division one competition and it is just as cutthroat in the race to the playoffs.

Wyndham, Midlands, and Waikaka can start to prepare for the playoffs with Edendale and Riversdale jostling over the fourth spot.

Edendale will host Mossburn tomorrow, while Riversdale hsa the tough assignment of competition leader Wyndham in front of them.

In other division one games, Midlands will travel to Te Anau, while Waikaka hosts Waiau Star.