3rd XV Trial 4 Preview
It's the final trial this week before the 3rd XV competition commences on Saturday 1 June, and then we will have just 7 rounds to determine the 3rd XV premiers and winners of the Col Windon Shield for 2024. Some of these teams are looking really good but a few could be under early pressure when the comp starts.
Riverview 3rd XV v Newington 3rd XV
Riverview had a close win over Shore last week and are building very well for this competition. Newington lost to Joeys at Stanmore, but are proving competitive against the other 3rd XV sides. So even though Newington will not be in the competition, they are making their presence felt and good on them. Still, I think Riverview will prove too strong in this final trial match.
Shore 3rd XV v Kings 3rd XV
Shore are coming off the back of a narrow loss to Riverview and Kings off a loss to Scots, and you can guarantee that neither of these teams will want to head into the competition following two consecutive trial losses. I like Shore in this match up, firstly because they are at home and secondly because they were a bit unlucky at Riverview last week, but to be honest it could go either way.
Joeys 3rd XV v High 1st XV
After their big loss to Oakhill 4ths last week, High will be up against it at Hunters Hill as they take on one of the form teams for the final trial. Joeys looked confident in their win at Stanmore last week and this score really could be a blowout. Which would be a shame for High but looks likely.
Joeys 4th XV v Scots 3rd XV
With Joeys 3rds tackling High, the Joeys 4ths have a tough match up against Scots 3rds who beat Kings last week. Personally I would have swapped these two matches and had the 3rds play each other with Joeys 4ths playing High. Still, Joeys 4ths will put on a good show against Scots 3rds, as this is the final chance for 4ths players to break into the 3rds and play in one of the official GPS competition sides. Perhaps this is the rationale behind the match up. The other issue is that Joeys and Scots meet each other in the first round of the 3rd XV comp next week and they probably did not want to play each other two weeks in a row. Scots should beat Joeys 4ths by a margin, but if Joeys 4ths win...
St Patrick's 1st XV v Grammar 1st XV
After a surprising loss to Pius last week, Grammar will want to put St Pats away before the competition starts. They travel to Strathfield for what would appear to be a must win game before they tackle Kings away the following week. Grammar have been a bit hot and cold in the trials. They beat Aloysius early on, but the Pius loss was a setback. So this match is important to get them back in a winning frame of mind. I like their chances.
Good luck to all players for this final trial match.
INP