Ruapehu and Pirates vie for Whanganui rugby's first season trophy

Ruapehu have two tough games in Whanganui to finish out the first round of Premier matches.

The Tasman Tanning Premier competition seems set to party like its 2013-14 as old rivals McCarthy's Transport Ruapehu and Black Bull Liquor Pirates will likely decide the season's first trophy of the Paul Mitchell Cup for winning round one between themselves in the next eight days.

Both teams are tied at the top of the table, with Ruapehu ahead on points differential, and will meet at Spriggens Park next weekend.

However, each has to get through their assignments tomorrow first and Ruapehu have a significantly more difficult task as they head to Spriggens for the first of their back-to-back away games to face Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist.

Marist got out of jail last Saturday to beat Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau 29-28 and at least temporarily reduce the tight race for fourth spot to a two-team field, competing with a somewhat hot-and-cold PGG Wrightson-Ballance Taihape, who upset Ruapehu in Ohakune but could not beat Pirates to lift the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield at home last Saturday.

Taihape and Kaierau meet tomorrow at Memorial Park, with the city team desperate to remain in contention for the top four as the competition nears the halfway mark.

Pirates will take the Shield north up the Waitotara Valley to meet Settler's Honey Ngamatapouri, who will be buoyed by their first win last weekend against Harvey Round Motors Ratana, 31-17 in Marton.

However, Pirates represent a bigger step up in class for the undermanned South Taranaki bee-country boys.

The other team still with skin in the game for the Paul Mitchell Cup is Waverley Harvesting Border, who despite losing away to Ruapehu last weekend have now been through all the tough sides and will play both the bottom of the table teams to finish out the round, starting with Ratana in Marton tomorrow.

Following that will be the still-new derby with Ngamatapouri in the pre-duck season night game in Waverley on May 4, and if Border can secure maximum points from both fixtures and Marist come to the party for them tomorrow, Border may yet grasp 2018's first silverware.