The 2018 Mitre 10 Cup Championship final will see Waikato and Otago battle it out on Friday the 26th of October.
A place in the Premiership will be on the line at FMG Stadium this Friday as Waikato and Otago square off in the Championship final. Both of these sides head into the clash in mesmerizing form, so we should be in for a stunner out in Chiefs country.
Waikato v Otago
Friday 26 October
FMG Stadium
08:35
To Win (80 Mins)
Waikato 7/15
Draw 33/1
Otago 2/1
*Forecast odds
Waikato
Talk about a turn around! This weekend’s hosts endured a dire start to their Championship campaign losing their opening three games. At this point, it looked like Waikato would struggle to qualify for the semi-finals let alone finish the season at the top of the Championship standings.
A midweek Round 4 win over Premiership side Wellington would change all of that, however, with Waikato going on to win six of their remaining regular season fixtures. They would taste defeat before the close of the regular season, though, as they went down – in a touch of irony, 19-23 to Otago in Round 10.
Waikato were back to their best after that Ranfurly shield defeat to this weekend’s opponents as they beat a spirited 48-26 during last weekend’s semi-finals.
Otago
Like Waikato, Otago also had a slow-burner of a regular season losing their opening two fixtures before finally registering a win over Manawatu in Round 3 of the competition. This victory sent them on a three-game winning streak which was halted by Canterbury in Round 6.
They endured some patchy form from here on in but managed to secure second-place on the Championship standings courtesy of their Round 10 victory over Waikato.
Otago had a much tougher time of it during their semi-final clash with Hawke’s Bay. The visitors for this weekend were thoroughly outplayed during the first half of their semi and were actually very lucky to win the game courtesy of a late penalty.
Verdict: Waikato 7/15 *Forecast odds
I can see the hosts putting in another solid showing with ball-in-hand here. They may concede quite a few points this Friday but I still think they’ll take the win by seven points or more.
