Rugby
The four semifinalists for the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union's Tui Cup competition have been found but no longer are they on an even playing field.
Pioneer, Greytown and Eketahuna all had their places booked before the penultimate series of preliminary round matches on Saturday and East Coast joined them with their hard-fought 22-17 win over Gladstone at Whareama,
All that needs to be decided now going into next weekend's matches is which of the four teams will finish in the top two places on the points table, and therefore claim home advantage for the semis, and that's where the fun begins.
While Eketahuna and East Coast will be going hammer and tongs at Eketahuna Pioneer and Greytown will be having their second weekend off
Pioneer have the bye after defaulting their match with Greytown on Saturday because of a shortage of players and Greytown are down to play Martinborough.
The latter was also forced to default to Marist on Saturday after a spate of injuries decimated their premier squad and have already decided they won't be taking the field next weekend either.
On the face of it that scenario has to favour Pioneer and Greytown going into the semis as they will have had a fortnight off for players to freshen up and recover from any niggling injuries while Eketahuna and East Coast will be confronting the exact opposite situation.
What makes their clash this coming Saturday so important is that a win for Eketahuna there would allow them to sneak into second place on the points table, and achieve home advantage in the semis as a consequence.
Pioneer leads the competition with 31 points, followed by Greytown on 30, Eketahuna on 28 and East Coast on 23. Then come the also rans for Tui Cup honours, Gladstone (12), Carterton (11), Bush Sports (10), Martinborough (6) and Marist (6).
Having the bye means Pioneer can't improve their tally next weekend, meaning Greytown are certain to become the new front runners as their default win will take them to 34 points. A win to Eketahuna over East Coast would see them move into second place, at least one point ahead of Pioneer, while East Coast could draw level with Eketahuna in third should they pick up the maximum points, four for a win and one bonus point for scoring four or more tries.
And, what's more, that would leave them as third seeds on countback for the semis where No 1 plays No 4 and No 2 plays No 3.
The defaults by both Pioneer and Martinborough on Saturday were very probably a "first" for the Wairarapa-Bush premier division grade.
There have been defaults in the past but whether there has ever been two on the same day is doubtful. Interestingly, both clubs do field teams in the senior reserve grade which, of course, raises the question of which side should take precedence when defaults have to be made.
The easy answer is that the premiers should be first cab off the rank but then again many of those participating in senior reserve rugby don't have the fitness or the desire to play at the higher level, and they would probably not play at all should that choice have to be made.