And then there were four.

There is just one more game standing in the way of a trip to Cooks Gardens and a new WRFU Senior competition winner as the semifinals are held at the Spriggens and Memorial parks.

It will be a big afternoon at Memorial for Taihape Rugby & Sports Club as the only WRFU club to have teams in both the Senior and Tasman Tanning Premier semifinals.

While home, Bennett’s Taihape are technically the ‘away’ team, after coming from sixth place and pulling the upset last weekend by beating McCarthy’s Transport Ruapehu 17-15 in Ohakune, ending their return season to the grade from Premier.

They take on an Utiku Old Boys side looking to make back-to-back Cooks Gardens finals, and while they defeated Taihape 48-5 on June 8 th , the quarterfinal round last weekend proved sudden death football brings out the fight in the underdog.

With plenty of squad depth, Utiku rattled off nine straight wins to start the campaign, but were certainly tested in the last few weeks with losses to the two sides now playing the other semifinal, while having to work hard to overcome Black Bull Liquor Pirates 33-26 in the quarterfinal.

No question, Taihape are a stronger proposition when both their squads play at the same location - player-coach Tane Martin, skipper Brendon Craw and veteran back Tyrese Payne looking to steady the ship against their derby rivals who are guided in the pack by the dynamic Coogan brothers in James, Mark and Gordon.

In the previous three weeks, both Memorial Park clubs were beaten by the strong finishing Kelso Hunterville, who now have their biggest test - travelling over to Whanganui to meet the unbeaten Forest 360 Marist Knights.

Timing their run perfectly, Hunterville denied the Knights the chance to challenge for the Stihl Shop Wanganui Challenge Shield by taking it off Utiku before the last round robin game, and are now hunting a trophy-double for 2024, as well as their 10 th championship in 16 seasons.

Captain Matthew Horton, goal-kicker Leigham Harding, prop Jamie Brett, and youngsters like No8 Tom Nichol and prop Sidney Diamond have the momentum, as they officially ended the reign of two-time defending champs Ali Arc Logistics Marist Celtic, 21-7 in the quarterfinals.

But waiting for them are the dominant Knights, a predominately young team in just their second year as an entity for Marist RFC and who beat Hunterville 28-8 on May 25 th , but have no illusions of grandeur after a pulling out a tight 29-19 win over Tāmata Hauhā Rātana Brotherhood in their quarterfinal.

Built out of the Whanganui Metro side who tasted championship success in the MRU Colts competition, and assisted by club stalwarts like Tom Nepia and Raponi Tofa in the front row, Knights are 12-0 and looking to become the first club since Rātana to have an unbeaten Senior season – although they played only 11 matches total due to Covid disruptions.

Winger Kuli Ligaitamana scored a hat-trick in the quarterfinal, while flanker Isaac Jordan had the big match, and other standouts like the Devine’s – lock Louis and winger Joey – will want to be firing.

By Jared Smith

Semifinal, July 6

Spriggens Park: Marist Knights vs Hunterville - 1pm kick off

Memorial Park: Utiku Old Boys vs Taihape - 12:30pm kick off