Table:
| Pos. | Team | P | W | B | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tasman | 9 | 8 | 5 | 37 |
| 2 | Wellington | 9 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| 3 | Taranaki | 9 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| 4 | BoP | 9 | 6 | 9 | 33 |
| 5 | Hawke’s Bay | 9 | 6 | 8 | 32 |
| 6 | Waikato | 9 | 5 | 8 | 28 |
| 7 | Canterbury | 9 | 5 | 5 | 25 |
| 8 | Counties-Manukau | 9 | 4 | 7 | 23 |
| 9 | North Harbour | 9 | 3 | 11 | 23 |
| 10 | Otago | 9 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
| 11 | Auckland | 9 | 3 | 7 | 19 |
| 12 | Northland | 9 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 13 | Southland | 9 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 14 | Manawatū | 9 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
Fixtures: 4/10:
- Northland v Otago
5/10:
- Manawatū v Counties-Manukau
- Southland v North Harbour
- Wellington v Hawke’s Bay
- Canterbury v Waikato
6/10:
- Tasman v Taranaki
- Auckland v Bay of Plenty
Notes: Auckland managing to fail against Hawke’s Bay on the Saturday didn’t bode well for their effort to take the shield off Tasman, and sure enough they failed again so bar a miracle where they manage to beat BoP and the two worst teams pick up wins they’re out. Ditto for Otago.
The drama in this round is basically down to how many bonus points North Harbour pick up against Southland, compared to Counties-Manukau against the Manawatū Turbos who are awful.
Beyond that there’s still another couple of big games. Given recent form Hawke’s Bay are unlikely to be much of a challenge for Wellington, but the Tasman v Taranaki game should determine who gets 2nd place and later that day Waikato & Canterbury are basically playing to determine which team they have to travel to for the quarter finals.