Reigning Mitre 10 Cup champions Canterbury will square off with Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday the 27th of October to determine who will be crowned Premiership champions.
Saturday’s Premiership final should be one for the books with regular season table-toppers Auckland taking on nine-times champions Canterbury. The hosts – who were almost relegated to the Championship last season – have enjoyed a huge upswing in fortunes only losing one of their 11 games on the way to booking a home final.
They head into Saturday’s clash against Canterbury as favourites with the bookmakers but will need to be at their best as this Canterbury side know how to get the job done when it comes to a final.
Auckland v Canterbury
Saturday 27 October
Eden Park
06:05
To Win (80 Mins)
Auckland 18/25
Draw 22/1
Canterbury 6/5
*Forecast odds
Auckland
It really has been a turn around of epic proportions from Auckland who, as touched upon earlier, were very lucky not to find themselves plying their trade in the Championship this term.
Saturday’s hosts enjoyed a magnificent round-robin phase with their only defeat coming when they fielded a weakened side against an in-form Waikato outfit. Besides that slip-up, the Aucklanders were all-conquering winning nine of their 10 regular season games. This series of results featured a 29-34 away win over Canterbury.
The Aucklanders were arguably the most impressive side during last weekend’s semi-finals as they had no troubles dispatching a very handy Wellington outfit 38-17.
One of the key men during last week’s semi-final victory was New Zealand Under 20’s fly-half, Harry Plumber. The young gun has enjoyed a solid Mitre 10 Cup campaign, and if he can put in another solid performance here he may well have the inside track to the Auckland Blues 10 jersey.
Canterbury
It’s been far from a vintage season from Canterbury but they still find themselves contesting a Mitre 10 Cup final.
The reigning champions had to go through their campaign with a host of members of their 2017 title winning side away with the All Blacks. This severely affected them during the early phases of the tournament but they managed to get their act together mid-way through the season and haven’t looked back since.
This weekend’s visitors were involved in a much tighter semi-final contest than their opponents as they edged local rivals Tasman 16-21. The game saw another dominant performance from All Black lock Luke Romano. The veteran second-rower will be key to Canterbury’s chances this Saturday.
Verdict: Canterbury 6/5 *Forecast odds
As much as I would like to see Auckland end Canterbury’s domestic dominance I just can’t see it happening. The visitors are the smoothest of operators when it comes to finals rugby and I can see them bagging their 10th Mitre 10 Premiership crown this weekend.
