Ruapehu winger Corey Carmichael is supported by Troy Brown as he takes on the Pirates line at Rochfort Park on Saturday. Photos by Maxine Hakaraia.
It could not be confirmed until the final whistle was blown at Spriggens Park, but the Tasman Tanning Premier semifinals have sorted themselves out as Black Bull Liquor Pirates fell to the curse of the table leader while Waverley Harvesting Border went nuts up in Ngamatapouri.
The question of whether the Pirates campaign can survive the departure of their three talented Samoan imports still hangs in the air, as McCarthy's Transport Ruapehu climbed off the deck following last weekend's defeat to dismantle the visitors 36-7 at Rochfort Park.
Playing to keep the hopes of a home semifinal alive, Ruapehu were on top from the outset, scoring in the first five minutes, as they dominated territory and possession playing a team which has lost the gamebreakers who can score against the run of play.
Losing a man to the sinbin did not help either, although Pirates did not give away any points while they were down to 14 men, trying to come back from conceding three first half tries and trailing 19-0.
Halfback Kahl Elers-Green scored a double for Ruapehu, with backline leader Craig Clare getting a try and adding three conversions.
Pirates scored with five minutes left through Fa'amanu Pulemagafa, but Ruapehu still had enough time to get their sixth try with time up, moving to the top of the standings.
Border would not have liked sitting outside the top four heading into the last round robin weekend, not one little bit, and the undermanned Settler's Honey Ngamatapouri had to pay the price in a 102-7 slaughter up in the Waitotara Valley.
Knowing a bonus point win would see them into fourth place once the game at Spriggens sorted itself out, Border made no mistake as they had racked up 58 points by halftime.
Ngamatapouri had barely managed to avoid a century of points against them with Ruapehu came into the valley in April, but this time they conceded the dreaded triple digits to end the regular season in ignominy.
With Border's pace to burn out wide, midfielder Kaveni Dabenaise scored a season record six tries, while winger Tom Symes grabbed four and first-five Tyler Rogers-Holden and fullback Nick Harding each got a double.
Harding converted 11 of the 16 tries scored for a phenomenal 32 point haul.
Adding in the previous weekend's destruction of Harvey Round Motors Ratana, Border have scored 190 points in their last two games, but the question will remain whether such runnaway slaughtering is effective preparation for a tough-as-nails semifinal against Ruapehu at Rochfort Park.
In the match moved from Marton Park to the Country Club due to weather conditions, Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau ended their disappointing round robin on a positive with a 41-24 win over a still game Ratana, who got a rare bonus point with four tries.
Both team's traded five pointers in the opening few minutes, with the match still anyone's at 17-12 to Kaierau by halftime.
However, they managed to pull away in the second stanza, with winger James Dorgan getting a hat trick while fullback Shandon Scott scored a try and added three conversions.
Clive Stowers made a comeback from his broken wrist and also dotted down.
Ratana's MVP points co-leader Shade Tuaine-Whanau was among the visitors tryscorers as it will be seen whether he or Kaierau halfback Cameron Davies, or somebody else, claims the prize when final tallies are announced this week.
Picking up their fifth win, Kaierau will join Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist in looking back at what might have been for 2018, as they were both able to defeat top qualifier Ruapehu in the second round of games, while Kaierau also drew with runnersup Pirates twice, yet they lost other key matchups to miss the championship semifinals.
In the Senior Championship, the march to the title by Kelso Hunterville is no longer assured as Marist Celtic harnessed the Spriggens Park wind much more effectively in their 38-15 win, taking over as top qualifier.
The previous matchup between the two, a 19-6 win to Hunterville, had been a Thursday night home game under lights at Easter, but back in the normal Saturday afternoon timeslot, Marist proved a big point as they led 31-10 at halftime and then successfully defended until right at the end of the match going into the wind, giving the visitors just their second loss in 2018.
Up in Waverley, Border claimed third spot for the playoffs, which ironically now means they have to unexpectedly play Hunterville away, after a comfortable 41-5 win over Speirs Food Marton, who have not beaten any of the other semifinalists in the championship round.
In a season where a lot of the silverware has been shared among several clubs, Counties and Bennett's Taihape could not make the semifinals in their last game, but still had everything to play for at Memorial Park with the Stihl Shop Wanganui Challenge Shield on the line.
Counties will declare their season a moderate success as they blew out to a big lead and then held off Taihape's second half comeback to win 43-24 and take the Shield home for the summer.
In the Senior Consolation grade, Kaierau finished as top qualifier despite losing 30-18 to Utiku Old Boys at Memorial Park, while Seales Winslow Pirates did what their Premier team couldn't and came away with a good 55-25 win over Ruapehu in Ohakune.
Marist Buffalo's were on the bye and despite Utiku's late season win, they still get the other home semifinal.
Results, July 7.
Tasman Tanning Premier, Week 14.
Grand Hotel Challenge Shield – Byford's Readimix Taihape 20 (Kameli Kuruyabaki, Tremaine Gilbert, Ritchie Irons tries; Dane Whale pen, con) bt Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist 14 (Sam Madams, Josaia Bogileka tries; Ashton Coates 2 con). HT: 14-5 Marist.
Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau 41 (James Dorgan 3, Ace Malo, Clive Stowers, Shandon Scott, Kholt Coveny tries, Scott 3 con) bt Harvey Round Motors Ratana 24 (Kereti Tamou, Sam Hart, Alan Penetito, Shade Tuaine-Whanau tries, Matiu Webber 2 con). HT: 17-12.
McCarthy's Transport Ruapehu 36 (Kahl Elers-Green 2, Craig Clare, Gabriel Hakaraia, Troy Brown, Andrew Evans tries; Clare 3 con) bt Black Bull Liquor Pirates 7 (Fa'amanu Pulemagafa try; Junior Ainea con). HT: 19-0.
Waverley Harvesting Border 102 (Kaveni Dabenaise 6, Tom Symes 4, Tyler Rogers-Holden 2, Nick Harding 2, Lindsay Horrocks, Jason Myers tries; Harding 11 con) bt Settlers Honey Ngamatapouri 7 (Jim Seruwalu try; Te Tu Kemp con). HT: 58-0.
Senior Championship, Week 5
At Spriggens Park: Marist Celtic bt Kelso Hunterville 38-15. HT: 31-10.
At Dallison Park: Border bt Speirs Food Marton 41-5. HT: 19-0.
At Memorial Park (Stihl Shop Wanganui Challenge Shield): Counties bt Bennett's Taihape 43-24. HT: 35-5.
Senior Consolation, Week 5.
At Memorial Park: Utiku OB bt Kaierau 30-18. HT: 12-8.
At Rochfort Park: Seales Winslow Pirates bt Ruapehu 55-25. HT: 29-13.
Bye: Marist Buffalo's.
Semifinals draw, July 14 (Home team first)
Premier Championship: Ruapehu v Border, Pirates v Taihape.
Premier Consolation: Marist v Ratana, Kaierau v Ngamatapouri.
Senior Championship: Celtic v Marton, Hunterville v Border.
Senior Consolation: Kaierau v Pirates, Buffalo's v Utiku OB.
Students remain 'in the dark' about what comes next.