Southland Boys’ remain favourites to retain their Southern Schools Rugby Championship title.
They comfortably dispatched St Kevin’s 62-7 in Invercargill on Saturday to complete the round-robin phase unbeaten.
They have secured pole position for the playoffs and will host John McGlashan in the semifinals.
Southland Boys’ have set the benchmark all season and are chasing a third consecutive banner.
King’s beat John McGlashan 38-12 on Saturday and will host Otago Boys’ in the other division 1 final.
Otago Boys’ crushed Southland Boys’ 2nds 65-12 in Invercargill in their final round-robin.
But two weeks ago, they were beaten 31-17 by King’s, who built their win around scrum dominance.
Otago Boys’ will have to find a solution if they are going to reach the finals for the first time since 2021.
The safe money is on a Southland Boys-King’s final.
The format for the second-tier playoffs sees the bottom two teams from division 1 play the top two teams from division 2.
Southland Boys’ will play Dunstan, who eased to a 31-3 win against Mt Aspiring, and Waitaki Boys’ will host St Kevin’s in an all-Oamaru affair.
In the plate semifinals (third tier), South Otago has home advantage against Otago Boys’ 2nds.
South Otago played two games last week. They beat Wakatipu 37-22 at home on Wednesday but were edged 24-21 by Waitaki Boys’ at the Clutha Showgrounds on Saturday.
Taieri College have forced their way into the playoffs for the bowl (fourth tier). They edged John McGlashan 2nds 20-19 in Mosgiel on Thursday but were beaten 29-19 by Central Southland in Winton on Saturday.
They will play the higher-ranked King’s 2nds in Dunedin, while Central Southland will host Māruawai-Menzies in the other bowl semifinal.
Māruawai-Menzies warmed up for the playoffs with a healthy 42-22 win against John McGlashan 2nds in Dunedin on Saturday.
The final two sides — McGlashan 2nds and Cromwell — will playoff for 17th and 18th position.
Cromwell was beaten 40-30 by King’s 2nds in Dunedin on Saturday.
The finals are scheduled for August 9.
Venues and kick-off times for the semifinals will be confirmed on Tuesday.
