Club rugby titles on the line
Waiau Star and Mataura will contest the Southland wide division two club rugby final on Saturday.
In last week’s semifinals Waiau Star beat Blues B 20-3, while Mataura had a 25-10 win over Pioneer.
Waiau Star have earned home ground advantage as competition’s top qualifiers.
Taking Mataura away from their fortress at Tulloch Park and sending them an hour and a half across the province is a advantage.
Waiau’s semifinal was moved to the Tuatapere’s second rugby field in search of a dryer playing surface, and to give the Tuatapere Domain a reprieve before the final.
Despite the forecast for snow, the domain is definitely the venue of choice.
Waiau have no injury concerns going into this match, coach Gerry Adams said.
‘‘We have the usual niggles but we should be lining up our best possible side.’’
When the two sides met during round robin play the honours were shared one win apiece.
In game four in April Mataura won 22-3, but in game 11 in June Waiau Star won 9-6.
Waiau were missing a few key players for that second round clash but are set to be at full strength in the final.
Both teams had to work hard to win their semifinals, Waiau led just 7-0 at halftime against Blues B and it wasn’t until the final quarter that they got on top.
‘‘We felt safe enough during the match, we probably conceded too many penalties, we created enough scoring opportunities but didn’t finish enough of them,’’ Adams said.
Mataura were put under pressure from Pioneer for the first quarter of their match but showed great determination on defence.
The Mataura forwards gained dominance which helped the team earn enough territory and possession to take control. the the Waiau Star v Mataura, 2.30pm at Tuatapere. Riverton v Albion-Excelsior, 2.30pm at Riverton
‘‘Pioneer definitely gave us a hard time and made us fight for everything, which will help our preparation leading into the final,’’ Mataura coach Jason Bishop said.
Waiau Star’s success this year has been a continuation of their past two seasons. Waiau went through 2015 unbeaten in division three.
They retained all of their players from last year and gained more for 2016.
‘‘Mataura were the benchmark team for most of this season so it is good to see them in the final.’’
The Mataura forwards are a hard bunch and are well led by captain Cole Birse, but their strike power in the backline might be blunted by the conditions.
Riverton will host what is expected to be an intriguing division three final against AlbionExcelsior on Saturday.
The two teams were the front runners during the early stages of the season and that has progressed through to Saturday’s decider.
The two teams have met twice in 2016 with the record at one win apiece.
Gore-based Albion-Excelsior win the 28-17.
However the last game was a thriller with Riverton edging Albion-Exclesior 27-26.
Each of the division three teams initially played each other once in round robin play before it was split into top six-bottom four.
Albion-Excelsior were the competition leaders at that stage, but the points were scrapped. After the top six games Riverton emerged as top qualifiers. first game in April by