CRL FINALS WEEK 2 CLUB PREVIEW: HORNETS AND KNIGHTS CHASE GRAND FINAL SPOT
Halswell Hornets and Riccarton Knights will vie for the opportunity to join Linwood Keas on CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day, squaring off in Saturday’s CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership preliminary final this Saturday.
The rivals experienced contrasting fortunes during last weekend’s opening batch of finals fixtures.
The second-placed Hornets were humbled 30-4 by Massetti Cup winners Linwood Keas in the qualifying final after trailing 12-0 at halftime at Linwood Park.
The third-placed Knights, meanwhile, stayed alive by grinding out an 18-4 elimination final win over Greymouth Greyhounds at Crosbie Park.
Halswell qualified for its first grand final in a decade last year, upsetting Linwood in the prelim before going down 20-18 to Hornby in a classic decider at Ngā Puna Wai. Riccarton is vying for its first grand final berth since winning the 2004 premiership.
The Hornets take an ever-so-slight psychological edge into this weekend’s showdown at Halswell Domain, winning a 28-24 thriller at Riccarton six weeks ago and prevailing 10-9 over the Knights in the final round at home.
The all-or-nothing clash kicks off at Halswell Domain at 2.45pm on Saturday.
CRL FINALS WEEK 1 CLUB WRAP: KEAS INTO GF, KNIGHTS CONQUER IN DO-OR-DIE CLASH
CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup table-toppers Linwood Keas are hoping to regroup from a qualifying final defeat last week in this week’s prelim against Halswell Hornets.
The Keas went down to defending champs Eastern Eagles 18-12 at home last weekend. The Hornets, 2024 runners-up, accounted for Hornby Panthers 32-14 in the elimination final.
The Hornets inflicted the Keas’ only regular season defeat when the teams met in May. They lock horns again at 1pm at Linwood Park this Saturday.
CRL Division One’s semi-finals sees the rampant, unbeaten Celebration Lions host 2024 champs Northern Bulldogs at Cuthberts Green, while second-placed Shirley Hawks and third-placed Eastern Eagles square off at Macfarlane Park.
Both matches kick off at 1pm on Saturday.
In Sunday’s CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership semi-finals, top-ranked Linwood Keas host fourth-placed Woolston Rams at Linwood Park, and Hornby Panthers and Sydenham Swans meet at Leslie Park in a rematch of the 2024 grand final.
The Keas swamped the Rams 64-4 when the teams met earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Panthers carved out a 30-22 home win over the Swans just two weeks ago with four unanswered tries in the last 30 minutes – avenging their 20-12 loss in last year’s decider.
Both CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership semis get underway at 1pm on Sunday.
The 2025 CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day is set down for Sunday, August 3.
