Four titanic struggles headline round five of the Southern Region competition.
All matches will be hard-fought, and all have major ramifications on the points table.
In the match of the round, unbeaten teams Clutha Valley and Heriot collide at Clydevale.
Heriot was too strong up front for Crescent last weekend. Its front row was very solid and loose forward Mark McKenzie showed his ability over the loose ball.
Clutha Valley is coming off the bye and will have a big squad to choose from.
The Owaka Swamp Hens head to Clinton to take on the home side for the Bill Mitchell Memorial Trophy.
Owaka picked up its first win of the season against Roxburgh last weekend and will look to continue that form. Clinton is sitting on the foot of the table after recording four big losses to start its season. This match is not a forgone conclusion, however, as Clinton needs no reason to fire up for a clash with its valley rival.
Clutha hosts West Taieri in an intriguing fixture. West Taieri has not played at Clutha yet, but is carrying decent form into this match and remains undefeated since joining the competition.
The Pigs started slowly last week but still managed to keep Clinton scoreless and score seven tries of their own. Clutha is coming off a huge win against Toko where it showed some real class.
Toko hosts Roxburgh with neither side registering a win so far this season.
Toko was embarrassed by Clutha last week
Roxburgh was beaten by Owaka but may come into this match with more confidence after at least scoring some points in the match last week.
- Francis Parker
