The frontrunner for the Heartland Championship crown will be decided after the South Canterbury-Thames Valley clash at Whangamatā on Saturday.
South Canterbury kept their winning streak going with a with a tightly-fought 39-26 win over West Coast in Fairlie on Saturday, while Thames Valley accounted for Mid Canterbury in another close encounter, edging the Hammers 34-31.
The Green and Blacks and Swamp Foxes are the only unbeaten teams in the championship after five of the eight rounds.
South Canterbury, on 25 points, has a two-point advantage at the top of the table, having gained the maximum bonus points.
East Coast sit in third on 20 points, three clear of Whanganui as the race for the Meads Cup semis heats up.
North Otago are sixth, with a two-win, three-loss record after going down 34-19 to Whanganui in Oamaru.
At Strathconan Park, South Canterbury were down 14-10 at halftime, but came home the stronger side with five secondhalf tries to keep their stranglehold on the Coalpit Trophy.
Impressive No 8 Siu Kakala grabbed a hat-trick to keep his impressive strike-rate up, while a late try to Clarence Moli inflated the winning scoreline.
The victory extended South Canterbury’s winning streak in the Heartland Championship to 26 games.
In another piece of good news for South Canterbury Rugby, coach Nigel Walsh was reappointed to the New Zealand Heartland XV for the third year on the bounce. Poverty Bay’s Miah Nikora will be Walsh’s assistant coach.
The Heartland XV will play a Canterbury Development side on November 1 in Methven and the New Zealand Barbarians on November 4 in Oamaru.
Points: South Canterbury 25, Thames Valley 23, East Coast 20, Whanganui 17, Wairarapa Bush 16, North Otago 12, West Coast, Mid-Canterbury 11, Horowhenua-Kapiti 9, Poverty Bay 8, King Country 6, Buller 3.
