Want to know who the next Beauden Barrett or Kieran Read will be? In his weekly column for the Herald, schoolboy rugby expert Herschel Fruean singles out the best first XV matches of the weekend, and some rising stars to watch. Fruean will travel New Zealand looking for the best
First XV Rugby: The key matchups for the big games this weekend
NZ Herald
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Jeremiah Asi makes a break for St Peter's. Photo / Supplied
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Super 8 Final - (2) Hamilton Boys vs (3) Hastings Boys
12:30pm Saturday in Hamilton
These two teams just played last week in the last game of the regular season for the Super 8. Hamilton Boys, playing at home, were just too good for the Hastings Boys side, winning 26-3. Here are some head-to-head matchups that you can watch for which could determine whether the same result will take place on Saturday.
Tighthead Prop
Hakaria Richards-Coxhead (Hamilton Boys HS) vs Jeremiah Tuiatua (Hastings Boys HS)
The two tighthead props play important roles in their teams. Richards-Coxhead is Hamilton Boys captain, and is utilised in the midfield as a ball distributor and playmaker. Tuiatua on the other hand plays tight to the rucks and physically dominates rucks and tackle ball. This game will bring the best out of both, because both are big game players with Tuiatua having scored multiple match-winning tries, while Richards-Coxhead is always involved and will be seen plenty throughout the game.
Locks
Joeli Matalaweru & Luke White (Hamilton Boys HS) vs Julian Goerke & Emil Crichton (Hastings Boys HS)
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Goerke and Crichton go around the field hitting ball runners, cleaning out rucks, carrying strong and are providing strong assistance in support roles as well. Matalaweru and White have plenty of power in the scrums and are hard to get around at lineout time. When you see these four players on the field all at one time, there is no hiding any of them because they all stand out over the rest.
No 10s
Taha Kemara (Hamilton Boys HS) vs Latrell Ah Kiong (Hastings Boys HS)
Kemara has become a very good player very quickly. Last week was a most impressive showing from a Year 11 player, with Kemara standing out in a game full of talent. He was very aggressive attacking the line and felt very comfortable with the ball in hand. On the other side, Ah Kiong is not a player new to this spotlight, having played for the NZ Condors sevens team, and he has maybe the best running game and play-making ability in the country. Whoever wins this match-up may well come out on top in this game.
North Harbour Semifinals
Whangarei Boys High School vs Manurewa High School
12:30pm Saturday in Whangarei
Even though Whangarei Boys is ahead of Manurewa High School in the National Rankings and the ladder, Manurewa have beaten them in their two meetings this year. When you have dynamics like this, you find that the Manurewa roster is the perfect match-up against a team like Whangarei Boys, and being ahead of someone on a competition table doesn't necessarily mean they are the better team on the day.
Manurewa have some talent like William Manule'lia at prop, who has a very strong running game and once he breaks into open space is not easy to bring down. They are led around the field by Aiden MacPherson at halfback who is exceptionally quick from the base of the ruck.
Whangarei Boys also have some big-time players like Rocky Olsen and Max Brunker who both can play at first-five and fullback. Depending on which player plays where they can really change the way they attack. Javarne Porter at centre is also a player that is hard to stop. No 8 Jordan Dwight, who breaks tackles all day, and is a very rough and tough player, which was one of the reasons why he was selected for the Blues U18's this year.
Things can go either way in a game like this, more so because winning the North Harbour Comp was probably the goal set by both teams at the beginning of the year.
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Wellington Comp Semifinals
(23) St Patrick's College, Silverstream vs Rongotai College
2:30pm Saturday at Rongotai College
These two sides played last week and while I thought that St Patrick's College Silverstream would win, Rongotai College were too good. Rongotai have the big boys to match up with anyone and win big games. Bede Brown and Apostle Salanoa are two of the leaders that are strong in the rucks, John Samuelu is a big-time ball carrier, while Year 11 openside James Akerise should feature plenty in this game. Reon Paul at fullback is one of the best attacking players in Wellington and can open up games if he's not tracked down early. With the right decisions, he could be a match-winner again tomorrow.
Then you have Silverstream who will most likely front up in the forwards, then sit back and follow Rocco Berry and Riley Higgins in the midfield. The pairing are strong players that play with a lot of creativity and know how to beat teams. Lachie Forbes, who should play at first-five, will also be a big factor with moving the ball around and trying to get forwards into place and to put them in space as well. Mitchell Southall will make tackles all day, and when you have big runners like Peter Lakai, Jacob Bettie, Luani Ammunson and Mike Felix, that's all you want them to do - carry safely and strongly. This game is sure to be close.
(9) St Bedes College vs (22) St Andrews College
2:45pm Saturday at St Bede's College
St Andrews College have to stop the bleeding, having lost their last two games, albeit to a team that has been perfect all year and have had so many players get rewarded with representative honours because of it. The losses have come in their last games of the season, and they could be 0-3 going into the playoffs for the UC Championship. There is the smallest of chances they could miss out on the top four if Christ's College win with maximum points and St Andrews College lose. If STAC come out of this game with no points, they could drop to fifth on the ladder.
St Bede's College are also in danger on the other side of this too, because if they lose and Christ's College win with maximum points, Christ's move past St Bede's. As a result, this game is important for both teams and so we will see the best of both teams on the field Saturday.
(10) St Peter's College vs (15) De La Salle College
2:30pm Saturday at De La Salle College
This is still an important game for St Peter's College to keep the hope alive of making the 1A Top 4. They need to win this game with maximum points, but also need Auckland Grammar School to lose as well. Now this would be more of a realistic chance if Auckland Grammar were not playing Liston College, but it's the 1A and you don't know what will happen.
St Peter's still need to come out and win and against De La Salle College, and that's not an easy ask for them. De La Salle is led by one of the best opensides in the country Kitiona Vai, and also has some of the best attacking players around like Sofai Maka at fullback and Antonio Iloilo at No 10.
On the other side, Naryan Strickland has seemed to fit in at prop and steadying up the scrums which they had trouble with early this year. Now that they can attack off their own scrums, Ajay Faleafaga at first-five and Dhynzel Pritchard at centre will have a better platform to attack. Jericho Asi and Jeremiah Asi can also contribute, with the two brothers excellent at running off Faleafaga or Pritchard.
It's going to be a big game and St Peter's need this win.