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Well, we are down to four but as we know in club rugby not without some controversy.
You had to feel for Southern at the weekend as they rallied from 26-7 down in the second half against Varsity and then led by two going into the last five minutes only to bizarrely lose it three minutes into ‘‘referee’s time’’.
They had thrown their hands into the air in jubilation when Mackenzie Palmer kicked it into touch from a turnover only for referee Caleb Neilson to rule there was 15 seconds to go.
It’ll be talked about for years to come at Magpie headquarters.
Then throw in the upset when high-flying Kaik got thrashed by Harbour up at the High Veldt, which really threw a spanner into the works.
The Harbour pack monstered Kaik up front and ended up with 70% of the possession, which was too much for the home side.
By comparison the latest ‘‘battle of the saddle’’ between Taieri and GI was a tame affair at the Eelpit.
Predictably Taieri made it through by 10 points.
So that gives us our semifinalists. Taieri will play Kaik who qualified as the highest placed loser, in the quarters at the Eelpit.
Varsity will play Harbour at the Uni Oval in the other game. Well that’s where they are playing currently as Taieri and Varsity had an option to play at the stadium but wanted to stay at home which is their right as they earned home ground status. It remains to be seen if the DCC consider their grounds to be up to it after all the rain. But the word is they play at home.
Down on the farm
In the North, controversy reigns as per usual as Old Boys were rumoured to be fielding a Japanese player in their game against Excelsior at the weekend in order to get him qualified as a ‘‘local’’ player for North Otago.
Turns out it was none other than Mac Harris who played for Varsity last week — who to be fair has come from Japan! They duly won and secured a spot in the semis against unbeaten Valley. Excelsior and Old Boys will play in the other semi. But the late mail is that there will be no rugby in the Waitaki due to the weather, so those games will be played next weekend.
In the South, controversy raged at the weekend which marred the round as they head into playoffs in two weeks.
In Clutha Valley, they are still fuming as the weekend’s result has probably killed their chances of making the playoffs.
They were down 34-29 to Toko at the Prison with seconds to play on Saturday, under a penalty advantage (supposedly!) and rolled over for the try which was awarded by the ref after some scrutiny, much to the delight of their supporters.
But wait, no, in came the ‘‘touchies’’ and after much discussion, which took an eternity that decision was overturned and the game signalled over — it only happens in the country. Meanwhile, down the road in Owaka where the home side hosted the ‘‘much loved’’ unbeaten Clutha side, the game got out of control late with four yellow cards and a red issued in the last five minutes of the game. What is going on down there? There is talk the local refs are not happy as they are being overlooked by the ‘‘refs panel’’ who are bringing in ‘‘townies’’ to ref some of these games. We’ll keep an eye on this as playoffs loom.
In the deep South, we have our finalists, the all points of the compass Barbarians and Pirates Old Boys who will fight it out for the Galbraith Shield this weekend. Congratulations to both teams.
In Central, in atrocious conditions, Upper Clutha have locked up the ‘‘Horse’’ for the summer when they dismantled Cromwell. In the other big result, the Maggots dished it up to the ‘‘Tourists’’ from Wakatip.
What about the locals?
Well the NPC squads are being announced all round the country with muted fanfare, so I wonder how local players are being treated and what are the famed ‘‘pathways’’ like?
Well sadly, in Southland I think they are in a state of disrepair and have weeds and cones in abundance.
Having a quick glance at the Southland squad there is plenty of Aussie, Japanese and Moana Pasifika players but not too many local club players.
It looks like close to 60% are from outside the province but my maths has never been very good. In Otago, things appear a lot better with only four players having no real affiliation with the province.
At the same time, most of the local club players only make up the wider squad. But my point is why are we doing this countrywide? There is no money in our local game but yet we persist with this flawed model. Southland, the extreme example, is bringing in a myriad of players to achieve what? To finish in the bottom four or five every year? Or are the fans down there just happy to beat Otago and everything is fine? Enough from me, I wish Otago and Southland well this season and I’ll be supporting both teams and I’ll just dream that sanity prevails one day.
Some bits
Harbour did a tad more than rout Kaik at the high veldt at the weekend. They also erected their sponsor’s hospo tent up on the bank much to the consternation of the Kaik faithful. They even set the bar leaners and furniture to boot! It wouldn’t have happened if ‘‘RSCN’’ had been on site — they’d have been prosecuted! Taieri have been rolling out the blazers over the last few weeks and this weekend it’s fullback Joe Cockburn who is playing his 50th game — congrats mate. The late mail is Abraham Pole is off to France which is why he didn’t suit up for Harbour at the weekend. The word is he is out for Otago as well and they could be going to the Western Force for a replacement — tell me that’s not so after I’ve just finished praising them?
This weekend
Crushed big Mitch Tinnock last weekend and onto Kaik prop Moana Takataka who played his 50th last week, so scratch up another ‘‘w’’. The Eels host Kaik in the Elver Pit mudbath and the word is Cam Miller maybe out, so that makes it a bit tougher for the home team. Meanwhile, Kaik are bringing back Casey, Breen and Stevens, so will be right in the fight. I’ll stick with Taieri (12-) but this game is on a knife edge. Varsity are at home to Harbour at the Varsity Oval and the Hawks go in as slight favourites with their behemoth pack. Taylor Dale is back from concussion to make them even more formidable. Varsity will be fine at lineout time with their ‘‘twin towers’’ in the middle but could struggle at scrum time. If Harbour (12-) front like last week they just win, if not it’s a toss up.
Destroyed Craig Hislop from Clutha Valley last week and onto Potter from Upper Clutha this week, so it’s another cakewalk. In the big game, Upper Clutha (12-) finish off on a high over Wakatip to qualify top. Arrowtown (13+) will be too strong for a hapless Matak. In the battle to make the semis the Maggots (13+) get it done over Alex.