The rapid-fire ITM Cup comes to a conclusion this weekend with first the Premiership final followed by the Championship shoot-out. Rugby writer Steve Hepburn looks at the two matches.
Waikato v Canterbury
Hamilton, tomorrow night, 7.35pm
Waikato has timed its run to the final nicely, scoring a bonus-point try in its last competition game, which in the end clinched home-field advantage.
This is the farewell for the much maligned Stephen Donald, who is off to Bath. Not quite up to it at test level, he is more than adequate in the ITM Cup.
He will attack the line and set up dangerous men outside him. Sitiveni Sivivatu is also farewelling New Zealand rugby and his mazy runs and skills will be missed.
Early on in the competition, Waikato looked ordinary and was flogged by Bay of Plenty in Rotorua. But it won the games that mattered, including a victory over Canterbury in Christchurch.
Canterbury has done well to make the final, having to play at Rugby Park, and its depth being severely tested.
It will look to loose forwards George Whitelock, Nasi Manu and Matt Todd to dominate possession and grab turnovers, which is the key to its game.
Flying fullback Sean Maitland is back for Canterbury but Waikato's axis of Liam Messam, Brendon Leonard and Donald may be too much and may stop Canterbury winning a fourth straight title.
Manawatu v Hawkes Bay
Palmerston North, Sunday, 5.30pm
If anything there is more at stake in this battle than the one in the top competition.
Win this and it is a place in the upper echelon - the Premiership.
Manawatu has been a revelation this season with its players delivering nearly every week, and the inside-back combination of the Aarons, Smith and Cruden, have dominated every game they have played together.
Cruden is at home in the domestic competition, where there is more space and it is more about running than kicking.
Manawatu has been blessed with few injuries but it will be interesting to see how much last Tuesday night's game against Otago took out of it.
Hawkes Bay had been trucking along nicely until its final two games of the season, when it lost to Northland and was then smashed by Taranaki in a Ranfurly Shield challenge.
The Magpies have a solid forward pack and tidy inside backs but are missing inside back Kahn Fotuali'i, who was a key man in their attack.
The last time Manawatu played in Palmerston North the side put 50 points past Waikato, yet Waikato is in the premiership final.
If the Turbos play as well as they did in that match, they will be mighty hard to bowl.
