The heavyweight clash between Otago Boys' High School and Southland Boys' High School in Invercargill will be the feature of the Highlanders First XV playoffs tomorrow.
The teams drew 16-16 when they met in the round-robin game at Littlebourne earlier in the season.
It is an important game because the winning team will be favoured to win the top division of the competition and host the final on August 21.
The competition has been split into three sections of four teams, and all points from the first round have been deleted.
Each section will play a three-round competition, with the top two teams playing the final in each section.
The team with the most points will host the final on August 21.
The Otago Boys' team is back to full strength for the Southland Boys' game with the return of winger Tim Lawrence, who missed the King's interschool game while on an Outward Bound course.
"It used to be daunting playing in Invercargill," Otago Boys' coach Brian Ashwin said.
"But the boys are now used to the travelling and we have won regularly at Invercargill in recent years."
The other game in the top division is between King's and Gore. They drew 25-25 in Dunedin in the first round.
Ashwin has noted that all teams are coping better when travelling to away games. They are no longer taking any game lightly.
Dunstan beat Otago Boys' in the first round.
"If you think a game is going to be easy, you lose. The competition has lifted the standards of the smaller schools."
Because of their lack of numbers compared to the city boys' schools, the smaller schools' strength varies from year to year.
South Otago High School had a strong team last year but is going through a rebuilding phase.
