All eyes on Citizens Shield semifinals
OAMARU: The Citizens Shield semifinals will be played tomorrow.
Top qualifier Old Boys will play fourthplaced Valley at Whitestone Contracting Stadium at 2.30pm, and the Kurow and Maheno game at Kurow will have a 2pm kickoff.
Debate about the relative form of the four semifinalists has been high throughout the province this week.
Top qualifier Old Boys will line up against Valley, a replay of the 2017 Citizens Shield final won by Old Boys.
Old Boys won its first 10 games in Citizens Shield to look unbeatable, but its form has fallen off a little.
In the last five games of the final round Old Boys has beaten sixthplaced Athletic Marist (5224) and bottom team, Excelsior (3426) while losing to Valley (4636), Kurow (1912) and Maheno (2926), its only three losses to date.
Valley comes through to the semifinals with seven wins, a draw and seven losses. Old Boys has scored 86 tries to Valley’s 56.
Valley started its season sluggishly, losing five of its first six games, but then hit a purple patch, winning its next six games in a row before dropping two of its last three games to Maheno and Excelsior and finishing the season with a 3131 draw with Athletic Marist.
Valley has scored 56 tries in its 15 games, but its strong forward pack will cause some pressure on Old Boys, whose scrum has looked a little fragile in the final rounds of the season.
In past games, Valley has more than matched the Old Boys eight in the tight, although if the game loosens up it will suit the energetic Old Boys eight. Key backs in the Old Boys lineup will be the inside pairing of halfback Inoke Naufahu and Lemi Masoe, while the Valley backs have a defence which is usually efficient, but will be tested by the speedy Old Boys backs.
Valley’s wellorganised defence and its physical pack will apply plenty of pressure in the loose and the battle between Old Boys loose forwards Soni Tongotongo, Filipo Veamatahau and Anthony Amato and the Valley trio of No 8 Jake Greenslade and loose forwards Cameron Rowland and Sam Sturgess is sure to be intense.
The Old Boys front row of Kelepi Funaki, Unga Fefu and Ralph Darling will have to be in top form against Meli Kolinisau, Scott Ruddle and Logan Dunlop.
The Kurow v Maheno semifinal should be an intriguing 80 minutes.
Kurow won the first round game (2423), but lost the second round game (4241), and last Saturday, Maheno was too strong, scoring nine tries as it beat Kurow 4713.
Maheno has scored 60 tries to Kurow’s 74.
Maheno took the Citizens Shield in 2016 when it defeated Old Boys in extra time and its current form — six wins from its last six games — would indicate it will be in peak condition tomorrow.
Maheno coaches Chris Jennings and Willie Guyton have the side moving along and fullback Llew Johnson and speedy winger Levi Emery are dangerous in possession.
Loose men Hayden Tisdall and Marcus Balchin and the tight five will have to be in form to match the Kurow eight, which has more than matched most teams.
Braden Barnes, Harvard Fale and the dynamic prop Petelo Houhila, who has so far scored 18 tries this season, are a solid trio, while first fiveeighth Tyler Burgess and midfielder Ben Nowell have plenty of talent and experience.