There are some cracking ties in-store this weekend with the fixtures between Canterbury and Auckland and the Taranaki versus Tasman clash sure to provide plenty of fireworks.
Friday 6 October
Canterbury 8/15 | Draw 22/1 | Auckland 29/20
It’s the biggest game of the quarters with an underperforming Auckland outfit making the trip to the OrangeTheory Stadium to take on the always consistent Canterbury.
The hosts enjoyed a decent regular season winning six of their ten fixtures on the way to finishing third on the standings. They missed out on home semi-final hosting rights, however, as they went down 37-35 to Waikato this past weekend.
Auckland managed an identical win-loss ratio to Canterbury but only ended the regular season in sixth place on the standings as they struggled to pick up bonus points. They were given a real run for their money in their final regular season fixture as they edged Northland 27-26.
Home ground advantage should be enough to see the Cantabs to victory here.
Verdict: Canterbury
Saturday 7 October
Wellington 1/4 | Draw 25/1 | Waikato 11/4
The standout side during the regular season, Wellington, will take on a Waikato outfit that just scraped into the quarters due to an upset victory.
The hosts for Saturday’s clash were almost invincible during the round-robin phase winning nine of their ten fixtures, with their only defeat being the 18-20 final regular season fixture loss to Hawke’s Bay. In fairness to Wellington, they rested a few players for last weekend’s two-point defeat in a bid to keep them fresh for the knock-out phase of the ‘comp.
While Wellington suffered their first defeat of the campaign, Waikato managed to bag their fifth as they beat Canterbury 37-35. The victory was a crucial one as had they have lost the fixture, their season would have been over.
I reckon we’ll see loads of points here with both sides not afraid to give the ball some air. I can see Wellington scoring the majority of these points, however.
Verdict: Wellington
Taranaki 4/5 | Draw 20/1 | Tasman 1/1
It’s onto quarter-final number three and it should be an absolute cracker with Taranaki taking on Tasman. The hosts finished the regular season in second place on the log winning seven of their ten fixtures, while Tasman finished seventh with six wins from ten.
In terms of their most recent fixtures, the sides experienced contrasting fortunes with Taranaki beating North Harbour 54-21 and securing hosting rights to a home semi-final – should they win this weekend’s fixture – in the process, while Tasman were beaten 41-12 by Bay of Plenty.
When the sides met in the regular season, Tasman ran out 18-29 victors. I’m backing Taranaki to get revenge here with a win.
Verdict: Taranaki
Sunday 8 October
Bay of Plenty 8/13 | Draw 22/1 | Hawke’s Bay 13/10
The quarters come to a close at the Tauranga and Wharepai Domains where Bay of Plenty will take on Hawke’s Bay in another installment of the ‘battle of the bay’ .
The hosts for Sunday’s encounter enjoyed a solid regular season campaign winning seven of their ten fixtures and securing a home quarter in the process. The visitors also went seven from ten but finished a place below their opponents, who had picked up an extra bonus point.
Both teams brought their regular season to a close with strong performances as Hawke’s Bay beat competition pacesetters, Wellington, by two points, while Bay of Plenty hammered Tasman 41-12.
When the two sides met back in Round 6, Bay of Plenty came out on top in an absolute thriller as they beat Hawke’s Bay 35-38. I’m expecting another cracker here and for Bay of Plenty to claim another win in the ‘battle of the bay’.
Verdict: Bay of Plenty
