Prebbleton will be chasing their first shield since 1974 after being beaten in the last two finals – losing by a point to Darfield last year.
Prebbleton avenged that loss with a 24-6 win over Darfield in their semi-final on Saturday.
Prebbleton have the psychological edge over Waihora after beating them twice this season.
But winning finals has been Prebbleton’s Achilles’ heel. As well as losing last year to Darfield, they also lost the 2021 Coleman Shield final to Southbridge.
They also lost the Luisetti Seeds Combined Country final to Ashburton Celtic 19-7 last month. But Prebbleton head coach Simon Fitzgerald said since that loss his team have improved.
“We didn’t execute our game plan in the combined final earlier this year but we have really improved in our kicking game each week since then to the point that it’s now one of our main strengths,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to implementing it this time round as we aim to go one better.”
Prebbleton scored an unanswered 24 points against Darfield to progress to the final, despite being 6-0 down in the early stages of the first half.
“We were playing into a strong wind in the first half and gave up some field position early,” Fitzgerald said.
“The conditions were horrendous last weekend, certainly not the weather anyone wants to play rugby in.
“We played smart rugby in the right areas in the semi, which we’ll need to do again this week,” Fitzgerald said.
Waihora finished second in the round robin stage due to the 27-13 loss to Prebbleton two weeks ago, but sealed their final spot with a hard fought 16-15 win over Southbridge on Saturday.
Waihora had an opportunity to overcome Prebbleton in the dying minutes of the combined semi-final last month, but went down 15-10.
However, Waihora were able to hold on and claim the final spot in another nail-biter against Southbridge on Saturday.
With the two teams tied at 10-10 at halftime, two Waihora penalties saw the team narrowly beat Southbridge who could only manage an uncoverted try in the second period.
The clash against Prebbleton will be Waihora’s first Coleman Shield final since 2020, which the team lost 40-32 to Southbridge.
Waihora last won the silverware in 2018. They claimed the Coleman Shield, Combined Country title and Murray Cooper Shield in a dream run which included winning 18 of their 20 games.
Selwyn Schools’ will look to produce a repeat of their opening round match in the plate semi-final against St Andrew’s College on Saturday, following the team’s 16-15 win over Timaru Boys’ High.
Selwyn edged out Timaru Boys’ to climb into eighth place on the Miles Toyota Premiership standings and qualify for the plate semi-finals this weekend. Leading 11-5 at halftime, Selwyn were able to hold off a second half fight-back from Timaru to take the win.
Billy Duncan made his debut off the bench for Selwyn in the clash.
Saturday’s result followed Selwyn’s 41-27 upset win over St Bede’s College, who helped the combined team progress to the playoffs by beating Shirley Boys’ High 37-7 in the last round.
Selwyn will travel to St Andrew’s to take on the team they beat 31-24 in the first round of the premiership on May 13.
Selwyn Schools’ head coach Tim Keery believes his team can “definitely” repeat their first round win on Saturday.
“Bring on the semi-final versus St Andrew’s . . . the boys are up for this one,” he said.
After losing six games in a row, Selwyn will be searching for their third consecutive win against St Andrew’s. The winner will play either Christ’s or Marlborough Boys’ College next weekend.
This season has already been an improvement for Selwyn, who finished 10th last year after their 42-14 loss to Christ’s in the bowl final. Selwyn take on St Andrew’s at St Andrew’s College at 2.45pm on Saturday.
- It was also a successful weekend for Rolleston College rugby, with the school’s under-16 side beating West Melton 29-7 to win the Combined Country title. The win was significant for the school, marking the first time Rolleston has taken out the under-16 title. Rolleston have the opportunity to gain another title on Saturday when they face West Melton again in the Ellesmere final.
