This Saturday afternoon Ponsonby host an old foe, Grammar-Tec at the Western Springs Stadium. The Premiers kick off at 2.45pm, and the Premier Development sides and the Under 20 sides meet at 1.00pm.

The Ponsonby Premiers played Grammar-Tec twice in 2016, the blue and blacks registering wins on both occasions. The first came in May when Ponies won by 40-33, and then a month later they overcame their opposites by 23-20.

Coming into this match Grammar-Tec had recorded two wins from two outings – firstly 23-22 over Otahuhu and a 29-19 success at the expense of Waitakere City in the second round. By their own admission, these victories had been rather fortuitous over two sides that have traditionally languished at the lower end of the competition table in recent seasons.

The Ponsonby starting XV for this match includes a handful of personnel changes in the backs from that which started against University last Saturday. Danny Tusitala and Pat Tausie move from the bench to start at halfback and centre respectively, and Pryor Collier switches to fullback for this match. Ben Meredith has his first start of the season on the right wing, with former Waikato Juniors representative Cole Garrick featuring on the left wing.

1.Steven Savali

2.Charles Napa'a

3.Marco Fepulea'i

4.Tom Fisiihoi

5.Jamie Lane

6.Waharai Waitohi (c)

7.Aleks Dabek

8.Presley Tufuga

9.Danny Tusitala

10.William Talataina-Mu

11.Cole Garrick

12.Keenan Masina

13.Patrick Tausie

14.Ben Meredith

15.Pryor Collier

16.Jacob Scott

17.Alex Matapo

18.Moteiva Ngauamo

19.Taina Fox-Matamua

20.Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa

21.Shigeru Kohiyama

22.Freedom Vaha'akolo