PREVIEW: Round 5 – Bunnings National Provincial Championship

The hosts have struggled for results thus far with their sole victory coming against Tasman a fortnight ago. Their only other positive result was a 15-15 draw against minnows Southland. They head into Saturday’s match having lost narrowly to Manwatu in a game that had a thrilling finish with Manwatu claiming a 31-390 victory. 

Hawke’s Bay have fared far better their term winning four of their five fixtures. They actually went into last week’s clash with Auckland undefeated but came up short against the provincial powerhouses who beat them 41-22. 

Canterbury 24/100 | Draw 33/1 | Taranaki 11/4

Onto Saturday’s opener which will see in-form sides Taranaki and Canterbury go head-to-head. The hosts currently sit fourth on the log and are five pints behind Taranaki, who occupy second spot.

Canterbuy saw their unbeaten run come to an end this past weekend as a 75-minute try for the Wellington Lions saw the men from the capital steal a 31-36 win in Canterbury.

Taranaki also saw their winning streak abruptly halted this past weekend as they 26-29 to Bay of Plenty. They seemed to run out of steam in that fixture with a late try securing a bonus point and making things seem a lot closer than they actually were.

The hosts are really starting to fire and I can see them winning this one at a canter.

Verdict: Canterbury

Bay of Plenty | Draw | Otago
Odds TBA*

We head off to Rotorua for Saturday’s next installment which will see an extremely hit-or-miss Bay of Plenty outfit take on a struggling Otago side.

The hosts have won two of their four fixtures with their most recent win being last Saturday’s 26-29 victory over former table-toppers Taranaki. It was a great win and demonstrated that Bay could well be in the hunt for a semi-final berth.

Otago have only managed to register one win thus far with that victory coming last weekend when they beat Southland 31-21. They were made to work hard for their win against the cellar-dwellers and they will have to up their game tenfold if they are to take anything from this game.

Money on the hosts here. Otago have been pretty poor this term and I cannot see them causing Bay too many troubles.

Verdict: Bay of Plenty

North Harbour| Draw | Waikato
Odds TBA*

Saturday’s action continues out in Auckland where winless North Harbour will try and break their duck against a Waikato team who have claimed two wins from their five outings.

The hosts, while yet to win a game, have played some decent rugby this term losing none of their games by more than five points. They’ve been desperately unlucky at times as was the case this past Sunday where they took Tasman to extra time only to concede a try and lose the fixture.

Waikato have fared better this term with their two wins coming against Southland in Round 1 and Counties Manukau this past weekend. They looked very tidy with the ball last Sunday scoring 37 points while only conceding 15.

I fancy the men from Auckland to bag their first win of the season here. They are a good side and lady luck has to swing their way at some point.

Verdict: North Harbour

Wellington 1/9 | Draw 33/1 | Counties 9/2

Saturday’s final game sees log-leaders Wellington lock horns with tenth-placed Counties.

The Wellington Lions have enjoyed a fantastic start to the season and seem to be moving up through the gears with each passing week. They started the season off rather slowly beating some of the weaker sides but not impressing. That has changed over the past fortnight, however, as they ground out a 7-0 win over big guns Tasman midweek and then beat Canterbury 31-36 over the weekend.

While Wellington top the pops, Counties are close to the bottom of the table having only managed one win from four outings. They’re another side who have lost games by extremely narrow margins. This was not the case last week, however, as they were comfortably beaten 37-15 by Waikato.

Wellington are on a roll and I can see them putting on a big score here.

Verdict: Wellington

Sunday 3 September

Southland 6/1 | Draw 28/1 | Auckland 1/12

Our penultimate game of the weekend is truly a ‘David versus Goliath’ affair with last placed Southland taking on a stacked Auckland outfit at Rugby Park Stadium.

The visitors for Sunday’s encounter have been steadily making their way up the table but a surprise 31-33 loss to a tidy but far from elite Manawatu side this past Wednesday derailed their solid run of form which had seen them win their two previous fixtures by big scorelines.

Southland also head into Sunday’s fixture off the back of a defeat as they went down 31-21 to Otago last Saturday. They actually gave a really good account of themselves in that fixture with late injuries ruining their chances of claiming an upset win.

They won’t be happy with the midweek defeat and I can see Auckland responding by taking Southland to task.

Verdict: Auckland

Tasman 1/16 | Draw 33/1 | Manawatu 13/2

The Round 5 action comes to a close at Trafalgar Park where sixth-placed Tasman will take on eighth-placed Manawatu. Only two points separate the sides on the log, so a win for the visitors would see them leapfrog their hosts on the standings.

Tasman have been a real difficult side to forecast this season as they played some solid rugby at times and then some really dour stuff. This has been true over the last two weeks as they made a plethora of errors in their o-7 defeat to Wellington and then gave a decent account of themselves a few days later as they beat North Harbour 20-15.

Manawatu have been on something of a roll over the past week beating Northland 31-30 at the weekend and then beating Auckland 31-33 in the midweek fixture. These were their first two victories of the season and they’ll be looking for the hat trick here.

While Tasman has been far from fluid this term, I can’t see what will be a tired Manawatu outfit giving them too much of a run.

Verdict: Tasman