The Kia Toa Tigers extended their lead in the competition at the Kensington Oval on Saturday with a 46-12 triumph over the South Pacific Raiders, while the East Coast Eagles put University away 44-20.
The Tigers have dominated this season by fronting a consistent line-up of players who work well in combination with each other.
One such combination that stood out this weekend was that between Taua Piri and Joel Taniora, with both players causing havoc for the Raiders defenders and collecting two tries each.
The Raiders never gave in, despite clearly being up against strong opposition.
Manassa Kutia continued to impress, his ball running keeping the Tigers defenders busy for extended periods of the game.
But the competition leader was able to handle anything the Raiders threw at it, showing again the impressive ability to absorb attacking pressure and counterattack to score points of its own.
Captain Shane Unahi was again a formidable force to contend with, bouncing off tacklers and leading the charge for his side.
The Tigers crossed the line for 10 tries, adding to the clinical performances they have put together this season.
For the Raiders, it was another learning curve in a season of ups and downs.
The East Coast Eagles ran out for the first time in three weeks, following two consecutive defaulted games, and showed that they are most certainly still a threat to the rest of the competition by defeating a struggling University outfit 44-20.
Considering that in the previous three encounters this season the matches were decided by six points or less, this 24-point differential showed the Eagles are on the rise, and University is on the decline.
The Eagles gained a lot of momentum through hooker Sam Johnstone's quick play around the ruck, which caught University defenders off guard and resulted in two impressive individual tries.
Johnstone's efforts laid a platform for the Eagles backs and Kieran Fitzgerald strung together some great attacking plays, scoring a try, and converting six of his eight attempts at goal.
Playmaker Josh Cornish returned from injury to lead University's attack, setting up several threatening plays and scoring a try to put the Eagles under pressure.
He was well supported by Hamiora Ngatoro, who took the ball to the line with some strong running and shut down the middle of the field with his strong defensive presence.
University was right in the game at half-time, trailing 16-8, after conceding a soft try in the dying minutes of the first half.
However, it began the second half in similar fashion, letting the Eagles through the defensive line to add another six points and set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Eagles continued to assert their dominance with relative ease and capitalised on the students' errors to maintain a healthy lead while closing out the second half.
