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Updated September 4, 2009 20:49:00
It is the business end of the competition with Sydney University all but locking up the minor premiership ahead of this week's final round of regular competition in the Shute Shield.
The Students are eight points clear of the second-placed Randwick, who is looking good on 75, and both are guaranteed of a one-two finish irrespective of this week's results.
But spots are still up for grabs in next weekend's two elimination finals, with just eight points separating Manly, Eastwood, Gordon, Warringah and Eastern Suburbs.
Meanwhile at the other end, Penrith looks likely to come out on top in the two-way battle with Parramatta for the dreaded wooden spoon.
ABC TV Match Of The Day:
Sydney University v Eastwood
University Oval No 1, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST) - Live on ABC1 in NSW/ACT and nationally on ABC HD Channel 20.
The final week of the regular season is set to go off with a bang with Sydney University hoping to use home ground advantage and notch up an incredible 14th straight victory, as well as clinch the minor premiership.
A win will also be high on the agenda as as a way of celebrating inside centre Tom Carter's 100th first grade match.
Lining up alongside Carter will be the Students' point scoring machine Daniel Halangahu, while Phil Waugh will strengthen the forward pack in the number seven jersey.
Eastwood will need to bounce back from last week's devastating loss to Gordon, with the Woodies defeated by two points after leading 20-7.
The Woodies will also be without captain Hugh Perrett, who was left out of the starting XV due to a hamstring injury.
Tom Alexander will fill in as flanker, while Ben Hand and Chris O'Young will share the captaincy duties.
History will be on Uni's side, with the Students running home 29 points to 17 last time the two sides went head-to-head in round 11 at TG Millner Field.
Sydney University: 1 Jerry Yanuyanutawa 2 Ben Roberts 3 Pat Ryan 4 Dave Dennis 5 Ben McCalman 6 Pat McCutcheon 7 Phil Waugh 8 Tim Davidson (captain) 9 Scott Stumbles 10 Daniel Halangahu 11 Jacob Taylor 12 Tom Carter 13 Mitch Inman 14 Nick Edwards 15 Nathan Trist
Eastwood: 1 Kieran Longbottom 2 Damien Fitzpatrick 3 Matt Dunning 4 Ben Hand (captain) 5 Marty Wilson 6 Gareth Palamo 7 Tom Alexander 8 Lachlan McCaffrey 9 Chris O'Young (captain) 10 James Foote 11 Rowan Kellam 12 Sione Piukala 13 Tim Bennetts 14 John Grant 15 Ray Isara
Other Fixtures:
Eastern Suburbs v Manly at Woollahra Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)
Eastern Suburbs: 1 Lawrence Marsh 2 Huia Edmonds 3 Rob McMickan 4 Richard Stanford 5 Lee Morley 6 Fergus Dorney 7 Matt Hodgson 8 Tom Egan (captain) 9 Luke Irwin 10 Matt Toomua 11 Gavin Debartolo 12 Tom Azar 13 Afusipa Taumoepeau 14 Anton LaVin 15 Pat Dellit
Manly: 1 James Lakepa 2 Elvis Taione 3 Tim Fairbrother 4 Will Munsie 5 Luke Andrews 6 Dylan Sigg 7 Cristobal Westenenk 8 Will Brame (captain) 9 Chris Cottee 10 Josh Gamgee 11 Leon Bott 12 Brian Sefanaia 13 Tyrone Smith 14 Luke Johnson 15 Adam D'Arcy
Gordon v Penrith at Chatswood Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)
Gordon: 1 Lamarn Ma'a 2 Dan Hilton 3 Marty Plokstys 4 Ed Gower (captain) 5 Kingsley Seale 6 Paulie Tuala 7 Craig Thomas 8 Chris Alcock 9 Justin Turner 10 Josh Kiel 11 Terry Preston 12 Dave Harvey 13 Mark Preston 14 Matt McDougall 15 Dane Haylett-Petty
Penrith: 1 Dave Coventry 2 Elvis Levi 3 Nick Barber 4 Mosese Makasini 5 Liam Winton 6 David Reopoamo 7 Michael Paulo 8 Joey Afualo 9 Alex Pinson 10 Matt Sonter 11 Campbell Sione 12 Luke Cross (captain) 13 Nua Alone 14 Moefili Pinono 15 Zeb Filise
Randwick v Parramatta at Coogee Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)
Randwick: 1 Sekope Kepu 2 Atonio Halangahu 3 Lotu Taukeiaho 4 Tim Maxwell 5 Steve Brennan 6 Henry Vanderglas 7 Seilala Lam 8 Stephen Hoiles 9 Josh Valentine 10 Tim Walsh 11 Shaun Foley 12 Toby Browne 13 Bernie Orbell 14 Francis Fainifo 15 Marshall Milroy
Parramatta: 1 Vai Filimoehala 2 Scott Podmore 3 Matt Toli 4 Sam Evalu 5 Ryan Ainseko 6 Andrew Cox (captain) 7 Jeremy Bird 8 Maile Latukefu 9 Bryce Alley 10 Aaron Mattin 11 Roy Iosefa 12 Areta Lama 13 Piripi Ranga 14 Richie Williams 15 Ben Borg
Northern Suburbs v West Harbour at North Sydney Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)
Northern Suburbs: 1 Nick Lah 2 Ryan Dalziel 3 Al Baxter 4 Richie Hunt 5 Pat Maile 6 James Fitzgerald 7 Sam Latunipulu 8 Al McFarland 9 Tom Burnett 10 Chris Burnett 11 Dan Watson-Wood 12 Chris Moore 13 Andrew Smith 14 Corey Brown 15 Kurtley Beale
West Harbour: 1 Campese Ma'afu 2 Todd Pearce 3 Reg de Jager 4 Tom Hikila 5 Andrew Clyne 6 Ben Lonsdale 7 Mark Porpiglia 8 Isaiah Pine 9 Steve Massey 10 Jai Ayoub 11 Tito Mua 12 Henry Seavula 13 Metui Maile 14 John Sinisa 15 Nick Reily
Southern Districts v Warringah at Forshaw Rugby Oval, Saturday September 5, 3:00pm (AEST)
Southern Districts: 1 Nic Henderson 2 John Ulugia 3 Guy Shepherdson 4 Daniel Bray 5 Kane Douglas 6 Matt Trouville 7 Tim McGann 8 Mick Kauter 9 Nathan Sievert 10 Darren Kapene 11 Brackin Henry 12 Josh Tatupu 13 Rob Horne 14 Ben Connolly 15 Zac Mullane
Warringah: 1 Dan Raymond 2 Luke Holmes 3 Dan Barnard 4 Hugh Pyle 5 Chris Thomson 6 Brent Murphy 7 Paul MacGugan 8 Trevor Richardson 9 Brett Sheehan 10 Sam Harris 11 Dylan Smouha 12 Josh Holmes 13 Haig Sare 14 Jordon Macey 15 Pat McCabe
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