Table:

Pos. Team P W B PTS
1 Wellington 7 6 6 30
2 Tasman 6 6 4 28
3 BoP 7 5 7 27
4 Hawke’s Bay 7 5 7 27
5 Waikato 7 4 6 22
6 Taranaki 7 4 4 20
7 Canterbury 7 4 4 20
8 Counties-Manukau 7 3 5 17
9 North Harbour 6 2 8 16
10 Southland 7 2 4 12
11 Otago 7 2 4 12
12 Auckland 6 2 4 12
13 Northland 7 1 4 8
14 Manawatū 7 1 3 7

Fixtures:

20/09

  • Hawke’s Bay v Taranaki

21/09

  • Northland v North Harbour
  • Canterbury v Counties-Manukau
  • Wellington v BoP

22/09

  • Waikato v Tasman
  • Auckland v Southland
  • Manawatū v Otago

25/09

  • Taranaki v North Harbour

Predictions:

  • Hawke’s Bay 3+ (going with my heart on this one bc after last weekend, the head says its going to be a struggle)
  • North Harbour 14+
  • Canterbury 10+
  • Wellington 4+
  • Tasman 10+
  • Auckland 10+
  • Otago 5+
  • Taranaki 10+

Notes: Including this weekend there are 3 rounds left until the quarter-finals, the current top 4 should make the top 8 though all of them would be hoping for at least 1 win from the next 3 matches. Especially with Tasman & Taranaki having a game in hand, the former should be eyeing up top of the table.

Of course, they’re a very good team, and clearly well resourced given the talent they have signed up so anything outside of top 4 would have been a fail. I’d say the top 7 are probably going to make the playoffs and its really just about whether North Harbour or Counties-Manukau squeek in last place.